Venice - St. Mark's Square

Beautiful St Mark's Square in the spring sunshine, early enough in the day that there weren't too many people around :)

Approaching the square.

The Square is very impressive, and is a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

One of the cafe's in the square, apparently very expensive. 

The Astrological Clock tower in the square. Originally built in 1496, it has seen many restorations.

Above the clock is a large statue of the winged lion, symbol of Venice.

St Mark's Campanile (bell tower) next to the Basilica. You can climb to the top, but we didn't have time, maybe next time..... :)

St Mark's Basilica, sadly the front was undergoing building works, but it is still a beautiful building.

The horses - apparently these are replica's erected in 1979. I have always wanted to see these, and read before we went to Venice that the original horses were in a museum in Rome. This is not true, the original horses are in the Museum in the Basilica. There will be photos in a later blog :)

Aren't they lovely?

Part of the top of the Basilica...

....complete with angels, and topped with the statue of St Mark.

This is a lovely marble lion to the side of the Basilica, apparently there are two, the other one must have been hidden behind the building work fences. They were made in the 17th Century.

Next blog is about St Mark's Basilica.

Venice - The Doge's Palace, the New Prisons

The Bridge of Sighs, leading from the Doge's Palace to the New Prisons.

We left the sumptuous rooms In the Palace , passing through some plainer rooms including the Court Rooms, and on to the prison cells. 

Crossing the Bridge of Sighs on the inside. It is believed that the bridge got its name from the prisoners passing over the bridge on their way to the cells on the other side of the canal, and sighing as they had their last look at freedom. There are two passages crossing the bridge, one for entering the prison, the other one for leaving the prison, this view looks inland, the Doge's palace is on the left.

One of the first cells we saw, imagine being incarcerated here with many other people.

The new prisons were built to relieve the overcrowding in the original prison inside the Ducal palace. The buildings were started in 1563 to provide better conditions for the prisoners. 

It was fascinating walking through the passages, but there is definitely a strange atmosphere. 

Maybe the walls hold the residue of the suffering that went on here?

We believe these round holes were where the food for the prisoners were passed through to them.

Very old, very tiny doors, who knows what lies behind them?

Above and below are photos of just some of the amazing doors to the cells. Imagine these doors closing behind you knowing you wouldn't be free for a very long time. 

Some of the doors were more iron locks and hinges than wood, but they were fascinating :)

The flag stones above and below were probably carved by a prisoner, I don't know any Italian but think I can see the word 'inocenti' in the top photo, maybe someone was protesting their innocence in the only way they could? 

Leaving the prison by the Bridge of Sighs, using the second passage, this time the view from the windows were of the Grand Canal

Back in the Palace, and a close up of the Bridge of Sighs :)

After our visit we met Joe for lunch then headed back to St. Marks Square for our visit to the Basilica.

More about that in the next blog :)

Venice - the Doge's Palace, the Doge's apartments and the Institutional Chambers

Looking towards the Grand Canal from the roof of St Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace is on the left.

We had one full day left in Venice so we decided to visit both the Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basilica. We started at the Doge's Palace in the morning, my daughter had pre-booked our tickets so we didn't have to wait in the long queue. 

An impressive entrance doorway.

The Lion of Venice :)

The very impressive inner courtyard.

The buildings linking the Palace and St. Mark's Basilica

We didn't have any pre conceived ideas about the Palace, so it all came as a wonderful surprise ;)

The Lion's Mouth post box, used for anonymous denunciations.

The photo above shows one of the many ceiling decorations on the famous Golden Staircase, which leads up to the Doge's apartments.  

Everywhere we looked there were amazingly decorated walls and ceilings, each room we passed through was more magnificent than the one before.

Such gorgeous decorations...

The rooms are truly sumptuous, in contrast to the justice rooms and prison cells found in other parts of the Palace.

The ceiling of the Collegio Hall, the beautiful paintings were done by Paolo Veronese.

Each room had a different purpose, the laws of Venice and the government of the city were all decided here.

The Senate Room

The importance of the Doge is very apparent in these rooms.

The Senate room

Wall paintings in one of the side rooms, we were unable to enter this room so I have no details about the paintings.

A close up of a ceiling lion, in the Chamber of the Great Council, isn't he gorgeous?

The Chamber of the Great Council, a truly amazing room. The painting behind the Doge's Throne is the longest canvas painting in the world - Il Paradiso by Tintoretto, which was started in 1588.

After visiting the New Prisons, (more about them in the next blog!) which are situated on the ground floor we entered the courtyard again, the Giant's Staircase can be seen in the centre of the photo.

St. Theodore and the dragon. St Theodore was the original Patron Saint of Venice. When the relics of St Mark were taken to Venice in 828, St Mark became the Patron Saint of the city. 

The Giants Staircase, with the statues of Mars the god of war and Neptune the God of the sea.

The sculpture of the Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling before the winged lion of Venice. 

Also in the Doge's Palace are rooms where courts were held and justice meted out. The Bridge of Sighs and the New Prisons are on the ground floor, the next blog will cover these.