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The Porphyry Lozenge

Upon entering St. Mark’s Basilica through the central door, you’ll notice a white rhomboid-shaped lozenge set in the red marble floor, inscribed in Latin:
“ALEX P.P. III
FRID. I. IMP.
XXIIII VII MCLXXVII”
At this exact spot, on July 24, 1177, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa knelt before Pope Alexander III, after being defeated by the armies of the Lombard League and the Pope himself, following nearly twenty years of war.
The Pope lifted the excommunication that had been imposed on him since 1160.

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