Page 92 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

90  VENICE AREA B Y AREA

Inside the Doge’s Palace
From the early days of the Republic, the Doge’s
Palace was the seat of the government, the
Palace of Justice and the home of the doge. For
centuries this was the only building in Venice
entitled to the name palazzo (the others were
merely called Ca’, short for Casa). The power of
the Serenissima is ever present in the large and
allegorical historical paintings which embellish
the walls and ceilings of the splendid halls and
chambers. These ornate rooms are testament
to the glory of the Venetian Republic,
and were designed to impress and Colonnade
overawe visiting ambassadors Sunlight streams
and dignitaries. through the arches of
the Loggia on the first
floor of the palace.

Key to Floorplan Mars
State Apartments The Giants’ Staircase is
named after Sansovino’s
Collegium and Senate Rooms
monumental figures,
Council of Ten and Armoury statues of Mars
Great Council Rooms and Neptune,
Prisons sculpted in 1567.
Non-exhibition space

Ground floor

Scala d’Oro
Sansovino’s lavish staircase was built between 1554
and 1558. The arched ceiling is embellished with
gilded stucco by Alessandro Vittoria.

Exit through Porta
della Carta

Wellhead
The two 16th-century bronze
wellheads in the courtyard
are considered to be the Entrance
finest in Venice.

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