Mark the Evangelist aka San Marco holds special significance for Venetians, as patron of the city and for whom the principal square and basilica housing his relics are named, alongside countless other centuries-old traditions and honors.

Venetians observe la festa di San Marco with the (almost compulsory) eating a plate of rice and peas, or risi e bisi in Venetian. Tales about this dish are plentiful indeed. In the Republic period, come Saint Mark’s day, risi e bisi was invariably served to the Doge. It’s also said that a true dish of risi e bisi must contain more peas than rice, or at least equal amounts of the two. Anecdotes aside, this famously Venetian dish, often described as half risotto, half soup, is arguably connected more to Mark’s symbolic role in Venetian civic history than to Catholic observance. Its continued popularity reflects both the importance of rice production in the Veneto region and the ready supply of fresh peas in April, the latter thanks to the noted agricultural production of Venice’s smaller islands such as Sant’Erasmo, Vignole, and Torcello, islands that once functioned as fresh produce suppliers to the Venetian populace.

On the other side of the Italian peninsula, in the Nuoro area of Sardinia, the people of the small town Lei honor San Marco with a religious procession to the rural country churches dedicated to him. Among the procession’s participants are local women carrying trays and baskets of small votive breads, pale in color and intricately decorated with flowers, garlands, birds, leaves, and more. These elaborate dainty breads, called cocoietas in the local dialect, are later blessed and dedicated to San Marco, considered protector of the fields.