الانشقاق اللاتيني

For the Byzantines, this loss was more than material. Hagia Sophia had been desecrated (destroyed with disrespect), its sanctity violated, and its treasures scattered. For the Latins, however, the spoils became symbols of triumph, re fashioning Venice as a new Constantinople.

The Church of the Holy Apostles suffered even more severely than Hagia Sophia. As the premier imperial mausoleum of Byzantium, it was stripped of its gold, jewels, and sacred relics. The Latin Crusaders broke into the imperial tombs, desecrating the remains of Byzantine emperors to plunder their burial crowns and royal ornaments. When the Byzantines recaptured Constantinople in 1261, the Church of the Holy Apostles was in a state of deep disrepair.

The original set of ancient bronze horses (taken during the sack of Constantinople in 1204) displayed inside the St. Mark’s Basilica Museum (Museo di San Marco) in Venice.