Venice Italy (St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge Palace)

 3 July 2024 - Venice Italy (St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge Palace)

We spent a great day on a guided tour by a native Venetian of St. Mark’s Basilica and the neighboring Doge Palace. The basilica is the main cathedral of the church in Venice taking that role, in early 1800s, from the St. Peter’s Basilica that we had seen earlier.  It holds the relics of St. Mark which had been smuggled from Alexandria and placed in St. Mark’s in 800s AD. It has been damaged and rebuilt several times and has a hodgepodge of architectural styles. It definitely has the look of Byzantine churches and shows the huge influence of the Byzantine Empire on the buildings in Venice. The facade is very ornate and beautiful. The inside is covered with gold mosaics, but because the lighting is so poor (they didn’t have very much electrical lighting and natural light is sparse), you really can’t appreciate it.  Russ took some great closeups which showed the mosaics, but in person, you could only catch glimpses of the beauty.  I found the church to be very dark.

The Doge palace’s public rooms are extraordinarily decorated - lots of beautiful paintings and gilded wood.  But the stories the guide told of the business conducted in those rooms were very dark - all about persecutions and tortures and death. The Doge (Venetian dialect for duke) was the government head of Venice for centuries until Napoleon in 1797. He was elected for life but had to be older than a certain age (I don’t remember, something in the 60s), so that kind of guaranteed he wouldn’t rule for super long. 

After touring the Basilica and the Palace, and hearing more about the history of Venice from our guide, I think I have a better understanding of why Venice feels so different from the other Italian cities we have visited.  There has been a huge influence from the Byzantine Empire and the physical isolation allowed Venice to create a unique culture. I am really enjoying this city!

I don’t know what settings Russ used on his camera, but this was not what we saw in real life.  You couldn’t really see much of the ceiling.  It is actually spectacular!

The outside of the Basilica is very ornate. The Doge Palace buts up across the Basilica.  At one time, the Doge used the church as a chapel.

Lots of angels and saints on the roof.

And gold mosaics on the outside also.

This is a huge church, it can hold 20,000 seated or 60,000 standing.

Many of the ceiling mosaics have been reworked over the centuries, but it is estimated that about a third are original to the 11th century. This is the central nave.

The Pala d’Oro was created around 1100 AD and was intended as a screen for the high altar.  It has hundreds of precious gems, including emeralds, sapphires and rubies.  The guide told the story that when Napoleon conquered Venice he asked about the screen (he looted a lot from Venice).  He believed them when they said that the screen had been stolen long before and the replacement did not have real stones. So he didn’t take it.

There are five domes, each decorated with elaborate mosaics.

St Mark’s tomb is hidden behind the scaffolding here.  Like everywhere in Italy, work is always ongoing on the churches. This picture is more like what we saw - very dark. 

There are a few skylights providing light.

One of the side chapels showcased marble walls with interesting patterns.

The Doge Palace is next door to St. Mark’s Basilica.

The Palace is a mixture of several architectural styles including Gothic, Renaissance and Mannerist. This corner of the building showcases the styles.

Looking toward the section of the palace that connects to the Basilica. A beautiful 24 hour clock is on the left.

The palace was covered in places with these bas-reliefs.

At the top of the stairs leading to the Palace’s entrance, stand two giant statues, Mars and Neptune.  They symbolize Venice’s military dominance of land and sea.

Russ standing in front of the Renaissance era entrance stairs.  At one time, there was a small prison behind the stairs.  But it quickly filled up and stank so a separate prison was built next door.  

Very large water fountain in the courtyard.

An example of a gondola from the 1700s.  Not a lot has changed in the design except the little cabin is now gone. The boats are built for the specific gondolier’s body so that he can balance on the back properly. It is not symmetrical, like a canoe.  It is wider on one side and is twisted a little.

Before Mark, warrior saint, St Theodore was the patron saint of Venice.  But when the Doge at the time retrieved St Mark’s relics, he decided he could make Venice a major destination for pilgrims (meaning more money for the city) by changing the patron saint to St Mark’s and building the Basilica to house St. Mark.  I don’t know about pilgrims, but he was right about bringing lots of people to Venice to spend money.

The state rooms in the palace are stunning.  Huge paintings showing the connection between the Doge and God and also historical events of Venice.  Gilded wood everywhere.  Venice has lots of 24 hour clocks, this one was built in the late 15th century, when sundials were being replaced with mechanical clocks.

Paradise by Tintoretto.  Said to be one of the biggest oil paintings in the world. This room is where the Great Council of Venice would meet.

Lots of Tintoretto paintings.  

Neptune Offering Gifts to Venice.  The sea played a major role in the culture and history of Venice.

The palace had a few rooms of armory.  These shields are intricately painted - not sure if they were ceremonial or were working shields.

If you were brought to the Doge Palace to face charges, you would sit in a room with this wall opening and a closet with 3 doors.  The judges sat in an adjoining room and would write their decision down and pass it through this opening.

Depending on the written decision, you would go through a particular door - one led to the torture chamber, another to the prison over the Bridge of Sighs.  I forget where the 3rd one led, but none of them led to freedom.

This is the path to the new prison.  The old prison, in the Doge, held cells that were very low, damp and vermin infested.  Prisoners often starved to death because the guards would forget to feed them.

One of the new, improved cells.  Not sure how many were housed in one.

This was the view from inside the Bridge of Sighs.  One rarely left the prison alive, so this was their last look at the outside world.

Looking out at the Grand Canal.