Venice – Palazzo Ducale & San Marco Campanile Bell Tower

As you saw from previous posts Piazza San Marco has lots to offer and two of it sights deserved their own post.

The Palazzo Ducale. It was the seat of Venice’s government for seven centuries but was gutted by fire in 1577 and restored with white Istrian stone and Veronese pink marble.

It served not only as a form of parliament but also as a prison, executioners block and grand palace of the Doge, the elected head of state.

It was also the home of the feared Council of Ten who preserved Venice’s democracy through their network of informers and spies

In some respects it can seem rather plain from the outside especially compared to the Basilica next door. In many other ways its stunning and understated while retaining an air of grandeur and awe that I imagine kept the mortal folk in awe.

It’s on a tour of the interior that both its dark and shady secrets and its palatial opulence are revealed.

We took a guided “Secret Passages” tour which I’d read was excellent and so it was. The tour not only gave an insight into the dark and mysterious world of the council of ten (their offices, secret doorways, torture rooms and the like) but also a very useful background history of Venice itself. I was fascinated by the details of Venice’s democracy and for the times, it was quite advanced, almost civilised (even it did still favour those with money or power). It would be a history essay in itself to give that background but safe to say its well worth some research and background reading. One of the famous stories is that Casanova was imprisoned here and was reputedly the only man ever to escape the prisons. The tour was fascinating although taking pictures in these dark places was nigh on impossible. Safe to say if you are in Venice I strongly recommend paying the extra to take the tour of this fascinating building

Once we were done with the secret passages tour we were free to rejoin the masses and explore the rest of the palace. The artwork is simply staggering and there are works of art by many a famous artist such as Tintoretto and Titian adorning the walls and especially the ceilings.

It’s very hard to capture this in a photo but hopefully mine give a sense of the grandeur

This room was the court room where the council of ten sat and pronounced judgement and punishment. The last wooden panel on the right is actually a secret door back into the Council of Ten rooms we’d been through earlier

More lavish artwork

As we climbed to the second floor there were windows with views out over the city and the water front

And over the water to the islands of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Lido

The most stunning room was the Sala del Maggior Consiglio or Grand Council Hall

It was absolutely enormous and decorated from floor to and on the ceilings with stunning art work

Many of these works of art are considered propaganda paintings depicting prominent Venetians in historical or biblical settings. The painting at the far end in the photo below is Paradise by Tintoretto’s son Domenico depicting 500 Venetian politicians in heaven! Talk about blowing your own celestial trumpet 🙂

As Venice grew so did its criminal population. The palaces cells could no longer cope and new prison was built next door. To reach the prison you cross the famous Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs). When I was young I always thought it was the Bridge of Size, an enormous construction spanning the city. Like most people I was surprised at its true meaning and size (and spelling), so-called, to mark prisoners feelings as they walk to their cells having been convicted. This is photo looking inwards towards the city from one side

And the cramped passageways around the prisons

The prison courtyard

And the view seawards from the bridge. You can see the crowds gathering to take photographs.

It’s a very small, not especially dramatic bridge so I’m not quite sure why it gets so much attention. Still, I’m glad I saw it and walked across it – twice!

It was a full half day in the palace. If you were a real fine art buff it would take a lot longer. We were well pleased with our visit but you can have too many prison cells and paintings especially when its lunchtime so we took our leave of the palace and the Basilica next door (with another secret passage so the Doge could worship in peace) and went home for lunch

Later in the day we went up the Campanile Bell Tower for an aerial view of the city. This was well worth booking in advance as the queue was long and slow-moving. We just went round to a back door, waited a couple of minutes and went up in the lift

The view was grand and everything you’d expect. Expansive squares, red-tiled roofs, water and churches

The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

The Isle of San Giorgio Maggiore. You can visit the island and climb the church tower but to my regret we never found time. The views of the Piazza San Marco are supposed to be the best in the city

A Panorama shot looking over the island to the lagoon and Lido beyond (larger version if you click on it)

Along the waterfront to the Castello district

West over the Basilica di San Marco to the Canareggio district.

The Basilica and Palazzo Ducale

North west over San Marco to Canareggio. Our apartment is in there somewhere. We walked through those buildings to reach the Piazza. One thing that strikes you up here is just how densely packed the buildings are. It’s almost impossible to make out streets or canals. No surprise how easy it is to get lost

North towards the Sa Polo area and entrance to the city. You can just make out the causeway to the mainland

Family pose

The mechanical clock tower and the Piazza directly below

And one final shot of the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

As we reluctantly headed down the sun was lighting up the tower to great effect

A fine finish to a storming first full day in Venice. We packed a lot in and it still seems amazing that it was all about 15 mins walk from our little home