A Month In Venice

Doges Palace in Venice or Palazzo Ducale di Venezia in Italian is the large palace that is the symbol of the city. The designer of the palace is not really known however we do know that the construction of the palace took place between the years 1309-1424. The name of the palace comes from the fact that this was the residence of the Doge or magistrate of the city. Since this was the magistrate’s primary residence much of the governing of the city and later of the region took place here.

The first floor of the Ducale di Venezia contained offices for lawyers, the offices for the Navy and the Chancellery. The second floor contained the Grand Council chamber, the ballot chamber and the apartments for the Doge. The third floor on the other hand contains many rooms where many dignitaries were entertained so there is many works of art on this floor as the need to impress was well and alive back then. Of note this building contained a room dedicated to the people so that they could place a complaint to the government, this room was called the Bussola chamber.

This building has seen much of the history of the world and was the residency for many years of magistrates. Of significance is that this building contained a room for the council of Ten. The council of ten was a governing body who ruled secretly for the Republic of Venice from 1310 to 1797. Although the council of ten did meet secretly the decisions made by them were generally considered fair and effective.

This is a significant example of the transition between gothic and renaissance architecture of that time. In fact this building incorporates all three architectural styles of gothic, Moorish and renaissance so this fact alone makes this a noteworthy sight to see while in Venice.

This entry was posted Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 6:34 pm and is filed under History of Venice, San Marco, Travel Tips, Venice. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.