Basilica San Marco. and other Venice, Italy Things to Do Tips

The Piazza San Marco has been described by Napoleon as 'the finest drawing room in Europe'. Well it certainly is grand, an amazing sight even when full of tourists. In fact its not really a square but a a trapezoid, 176 m. long, 82 m. wide on the side of St Marks Basilica and 57 m. on the other. In the Basilica the remains of S. Mark are kept,supposedly brought from Egypt to Venice in 828.when it became the heart of religious and public life in in Venice.

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Admire the mosaics of the basilica of St Marks on its front facade before you dash inside to see even more artisitic treasures. In fact inside wil be quite dark and to see the paintings you'll have to fork out a few euros for the lights to shine on them.

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Admiring the views from the Loggia of the Basilica there are good views of the Square and in particular the TORRE DELL'OROLOGIO. Unfortunately this clock tower is being renovated - there's always something in scaffolding - but at least the covers give an idea of its appearance. Atop of the the Clock Tower are the MOORS: two bronze statues that owe their name to the dark patina and strike the hour with a hammer on a large central bell.
Update 2005: Clock tower is still under wraps for restoration but the cover has now been changed for one depicting the Eiffel Tower - how absurd :-(( Not only that but a huge money change area stands just in front - ruining the appearancee of the Piazza. It really is being spoilt and its such a shame -seesecond pic for what I mean - the view from the water now is most bizzare.

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Piazzetta - San Marco is the only Piazza allowed in Venice. This mini square fronting the lagoon has two columns from the XII cent just by the waterfront. At the top of one is the Lion of St.Mark and on the other the statue of St.Theodor, the former patron saint of Venice.
Executions took place between these two columns.

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Address: St Marks Square

The Campanile (Bell Tower) -is a bit expensive for a short lift ride but the views of Venice up here are well worth it and you can also get an audio-guide for the views on display. It was built between 1511 and 1514, but collapsed 14 July 1902 and was fortunately rebuilt in identical form. Of the five original bells (called Marangona, Trottiera, Nona, Mezza Terza and Maleficio) only the largest, called Marangona still remains and its really deafening if you are up here when it is rung!!
Please click to see more pis.

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On the side of San Marco's basilica is this scuplture of what is widelty believed to be the four tetrarchs - the 4 rulers of the Roman empire in 263. One is believed to reperesent the founder of Constantinople. Credence is give to this by the fact that the missing shoe from this monumnent (see bottom right part which is in white rather than brown) was found in an excavation in Istanbul in 1965. What makes this so amazing is that the shoe had been missing for 761 years. It was believed to originally come from Constaninope in 1204 where it was torn down from a column.

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Official residence of the 120 Doges who ruled Venice from 697 - 1759. Its an amazing mix of Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance architecture.

Its well worthwhile taking the Secret Itineries tour. I'm not a big fan of taking tours but this was so interesting learning about the life of the Doges and getting to see the normally off limits areas of the Place. its a 90 min tour and you will see the chancellery, the questioning rooms, the torture chambers and the "piombi" lead prisons. Afterwards you can explore the rest of the Doges Palace open to the public at your leisure.

The guide was really amusing and kept our interest with the tale of the intriguing escape of Casanova ..a little bit of the story as we visited the different rooms and prisons. I won't tell you how he escaped, you must go and find out for yourselves ;-)

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This well known venetian baroque bridge was built in the early 17th century. it has two parallel passageways - one way for prisioners going to the Council of Ten and another for those on the way back so they wouldn't meet and confer stories! This pic of the Bridge of Sighs is taken from the usual tourist spot (just head for the crowds on the bridge), see next couple of tips for the unusual view which can be had if you take the Doges Palace tour.

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Be different and see the view from the inside of the Bridge of Sighs - makes a change from the normal photo view, taken standing on the Paglia bridge, facing towards the Bridge of Sighs.

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This pic shows you how narrow the Bridge of Sighs is on the inside - there were two parallel but separate walkways in to prevent prisioners checking stories with one another ;-0. The tour of the Prisons is quite interesting especially after the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doges Palace.

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