Islamic heritage of Venice explored, from St Marks Basilica fresco to architectural influences

Upcoming book by travel writer Tharik Hussain charts the broadly undocumented history

The fresco on St Mark’s Basilica depicting the legend of the theft of Saint Mark’s bones. Photo: Tharik Hussain

Walking through Venice had always intuitively felt “like walking through the narrow shaded alleyways of a medina” says travel writer Tharik Hussain. “Obviously it has canals but when you turn off and find yourself in a little courtyard you could be in a riad.” When Hussain, who is British Muslim, was commissioned last year to write a book about the Islamic heritage of Venice by Italian publisher Wetlands Books, he started to ask why he felt that way.

Surprisingly little is known about Venice’s Islamic heritage and history, explains Hussain. It is rarely covered in any depth in travel or guide books, nor is it an angle that is considered, studied or documented by anyone in Venice. Hussain’s upcoming book, provisionally titled Muslim Venice: Wanderings through the Gateway to the Orient, aims to change all that. Like Minarets in the Mountains, a book Hussain wrote about the Islamic heritage of Europe, the tome will be structured as a series of chapters, or journeys, within Venice in search of artefacts and histories.

One such journey will take the reader to St Mark’s Basilica, in which the genesis of Venice as a major power and trading hub will be explored. “The remains of St Mark are, according to legend, stolen from Islamic Alexandria,” says Hussain. “There's this wonderful fresco in one of the arches of the basilica where you see Venetian merchants attempting to smuggle his remains past the Islamic customs by hiding them beneath a load of pork. The customs officials are turning their noses away when they see what the contents of the case is.”

The Cathedral of St Peter or Throne of St Peter in the Basilica of San Pietro di Castello, traditionally considered the seat of the Apostle of Antioch. Photo: Tharik Hussain

Another of the chapters will be dedicated to the throne in the Basilica of San Pietro di Castello in eastern Venice, the city’s cathedral for several centuries until St Mark’s Basilica took on that role in 1807. The seat’s backrest is covered with carvings of Quranic verses, yet there is no written material as to why it is there.

One of the most interesting theories is that it was a funeral stone from Islamic Sicily, gifted to Venice by the Byzantines for its role in helping to fight off the Muslims. But there are other theories that Hussain hasn’t explored thoroughly yet. “Just the idea that from the 13th century onwards, the main chair on which the Bishop of Venice sat was inscribed with the Quran completely blows my mind,” he says.

Perhaps the most surprising moment during his research came during a visit to a Franciscan monastery in Venice. Its library is, somewhat staggeringly, home to the oldest printed Quran in the world. “Before I started this project I had no idea that I would find a one-of-a-kind Quran sitting in a Franciscan monastery,” he says.

Venetians had started to print books at a time when nobody else in the world was doing it. “The legend goes that these two entrepreneurs presented it to the Ottomans, who then did something horrific to them. But this is not proven and very likely an Islamophobic legend.”

It’s true that the Ottomans were not impressed, but probably not because they considered it blasphemous Hussain explains, rather because the book contained typesetting and technical errors. It’s not surprising given that “they were trying to achieve something pioneering and historic, something that had technically never been done before”.

Buildings in Palazzina Veneziana, which have a distinctly Islamic architectural influence. Photo: Tharik Hussain

A constant subtext in his Islamic Venice guide will be challenging stereotypes and the idea that the Islamic and Christian worlds were historically separate.

“One of the things I really want to debunk is this idea that the Venetians and the Ottomans hated each other and were forever at war,” says Hussain. Even though it was a Christian empire, Venice didn't buy into the narrative of Muslims as its enemy.

“What you find when you start to explore and understand the relationship is that they saw each other as great business partners and made a of a lot of money off each other! And they respected each other. Of course wars happened, but it was the last resort in most instances, and they quickly found a way to get on with the trading soon after.”

It was a relationship that left an indelible imprint on Venetian culture, but this cultural legacy is often dismissed as exotic or Moorish and not acknowledged as being specifically from Islamic culture.

A worshiper sits in front of the mehrab of the Masjid Mestre in Venice. Photo: Tharik Hussain

Ultimately, one of the main drivers for telling the story of Venice’s Islamic heritage was also the thriving community of modern Venetian Muslims, made up for the most part by Bangladeshis. Part of the research for this project saw Hussain, who is British Bangladeshi, getting to know local Italian Bangladeshis to talk about the challenges they face.

During an open iftar proposed by Hussain and his publisher, and hosted by a mosque in Mestre on mainland Venice, where most Bangladeshis live, many local non-Muslim Venetians were in attendance. “This was the first time 99.9% of them had stepped into a mosque or engaged with a local Bangladeshi beyond asking them how much something costs in the shops or kiosks some of them work in,” says Hussain. “It was also the first time Bangladeshis had engaged with Italians in their own space.”

Like the best travel writing, Hussain’s book on Islamic Venice will seek to create connections between the past and the present. “As Venetian Muslims this is their heritage going forward,” he says, reaffirming that it’s something they and their children should know about.

Muslim Venice: Wanderings through the Gateway to the Orient will be published in Italian by Wetlands Books in 2025 and in English later in the year