The Procuratoria of St. Mark

The ancient name of Procuratoria of St. Mark was given to the vestry-board of St. Mark’s cathedral basilica with a Royal Decree dated July 9, 1931. Its duties are the protection, maintenance and repairs of the basilica, bell tower and their pertinences. Indeed, the Procurators of St. Mark constituted one of the most important magistracies of the state up until the fall of the Republic of Venice (1797).

The Procurators of St. Mark de supra dealt with the administration of the assets owned by St. Mark’s church and the protection of the church.
The present Procuratoria council is made up of seven Procurators, from among whom the chairman is chosen, called the prime Procurator.
The Procurators choose an engineer or architect, called the foreman of St. Mark, to whom management of the technical services is entrusted. He has specific duties relating to the respectful preservation of the buildings and their single parts through use of the most suitable means that engineering makes available, in conformity with the religion’s needs and the provisions of the ecclesiastic authorities.
The foreman is assisted by other professionals for all the tasks and activities of the office: an engineer, two architects and a building surveyor.
The Mosaic Office reports to the technical services management. It is in charge of the preservation and repairs of the mosaic surface while keeping the old tradition typical of St. Mark’s alive. Also under technical services management is a team of restorers who work on maintaining St. Mark’s buildings and their movables. The Procuratoria keeps a 19th-20th century archive of documents and photographs, and also has a library specifically pertaining to St. Mark’s Basilica.
All administrative personnel, caretakers and security guards are employed by the Procuratoria.

Members of the current Procuratoria council are:

First Procurator Carlo Alberto Tesserin
Procurator Mons. Angelo Pagan

Procurator Avv. Bruno Barel
Procurator Dott. Paolo Chiaruttini
Procurator Dott. Gianni Penzo Doria
Procurator Arch. Amerigo Restucci
Procurator Arch. Marco Zordan

 

Since 2005, the Procurators of Saint Mark’s Basilica have been part of the Association of Italian Vestry Boards (Associazione delle Fabbricerie Italiane), an organisation which brings together the major agencies involved in managing the nation’s cathedrals and their associated monuments and museums.