The vapporetto whisked us away from Murano to Piazza San Marco, there we waited in line to buy our tickets for St Marks Basilica. The line moved relatively quickly and soon we were standing in awe of all of the mosaic work inside and outside the Basilica. We paid 3 euro to get into the basilica and 7 euro to see the additional exhibits including the horses and the preserved artifacts.
On the way to Piazza San Marco we passed the bridge of sighs.
The bridge of sighs. Legend goes that prisoners walking from the council room after being convicted would pass over the bridge of sighs look out the window at the lagoon and sigh at their last sight of freedom.
This mosaic on the entrance to the basilica tells the story of two Italian men, on the left, who went to Constantinople to retrieve (steal) the body of the apostle Mark. They put his body in a cart and covered it with slabs of pork. The Arabs were horrified by the pork shying away from it so the Italians were able to smuggle the body out in this manner.
If the surface isn’t covered in mosaic then it is made of some type of marble. There was a wide variety of marble from many different places around the world.
The St Marks horses. These horses are 1800 years old and underwent restoration in 1977. After restoration they were moved inside to better preserve them while model horses now stand outside in their place.
Next, we found a little place to eat lunch about a block off Piazza San Marco. There are lots of lovely places to eat right on the piazza but you pay greatly for the pleasure of eating there. Prices were about quadruple the price elsewhere for a soda or ice cream. But, you can’t beat the location.
On to the Doges Palace, we had no line there as we had a skip the line pass (17 euro). The first section of the Doges palace are the Doges personal apartments these rooms have been turned into a historical journey about the Doges of Venice, how they came to power, their role in the government, and the role of other parts of the government. The republic of Venice was created in about 697 with the first Doge. Since then there have been 120 Doges. The role of the Doge changed some over the years but the Doge was mainly a ceremonial position as he had little actual power. In the senate he had only one vote just like the other senators. Each Doge was elected by the council of 40. They also had a council of 10 that was responsible for investigating and punishing people accused of crimes. Their senate was made up of several groups that were responsible for different functions from trade to relationships with other countries.
The entry into the Doges palace with its interior courtyard
The Doges apartments do not contain any furniture they are now a history museum with explanatory panels. Each doge brought his own furniture to the apartments and when he died the family had three days to remove their furniture.
Next, we toured the government chambers and ante rooms. Here the rooms were covered with artwork from the 1500’s. Much of the apartments were restored after the great fire of Venice.
The governmental chambers were very ornate with amazing artwork covering the walls and ceilings
If the accused was not successful and they were sentenced to prison, the prison was right next door. The prisoner would walk over the bridge of sighs into the prison.
