Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio ordered the building of a basilica to house the remains of St. Mark the Evangelist. By 832 the building had all the main structures up and by 883 it was fully decorated. In 976 a fire damaged the basilica. Doge Domenico Contarini decided that the basilica was not equal to the magnificiant churches in all the mainland cities and had it demolished. In its place he commissioned the church as we know it today.