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.
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