Mark returns from Aquileia, where he has just founded the first Christian community in the West, when a storm forces him to take shelter on a little strip of emerged land in the lagoon of Rivoalto. Here he falls asleep, and in a dream an angel announces to him: ’Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus’, peace to you, Mark, my evangelist: in this place your body will one day rest, and you will be the protector of the city that shall arise.