Doge's Palace

Doge's Palace is a building that has for centuries served as a residence for Venetian rulers. The palace has a rather difficult history, full of mysteries, intrigues, incidents and suffering.

History of the palace

Over its centuries-old history, the Doge Palace was the venue of the Senate, Council and Supreme Court of Venice, the headquarters of the secret police, on the ground floor there were censors, a clerical office, and lawyers. The upper floors were allocated to political prisoners. The head of the Republic of Venice is called a doge, hence the name of the palace. The foundation was laid back in 810, but it was a fortress with moats and towers in which Pietro Candiani IV lived. But his greed led to a conflict with the people and nobility. The first attack on the fortress was repelled, then the inhabitants set fire to neighboring houses, from where the fire spread to the fortress. Dozh was killed during an escape attempt. Residents rebuilt the fortress, though already in 1106 it burned down again. After a short reflection, architects and rulers came to the conclusion that the fortress was not needed, because Venice had protection from the invaders the sea and a powerful fleet. In the 12th century, serfdom fell asleep, and on the site of the old fortress for several centuries they built a magnificent palace. In 1577, the fire damaged the building very much, but the restorers restored the appearance of the building.

Palace interior

Due to the centuries-old construction under the guidance of various architects and numerous rebuildings, the rooms of the palace for the first time can cause a slight bewilderment, but each element of the palace has artistic and practical meaning. Under the open gallery on the ground floor, you could easily hide at noon from the hot sun. On the second floor there is a room with columns, but 9 and 10 columns are made of marble with a red hue, this is not accidental, they were carried out by death sentences. A staircase is leading from the courtyard to the palace, called the "giants ladder" because of its size". Next to it are statues of patrons of Venice - Neptune and Mars. In the room with stairs, special events were held, including the inauguration of the Doge. The staircase leads to the indoor gallery of the second floor. In the palace, lion heads with open mouths often come across, decrees, petitions and denunciations were put in them.

It is easy to get into the main halls of the palace through the golden stairs. The Hall of the Grand Council occupies the entire southern part of the Doge Palace. It is decorated with works of great artists, as well as paintings depicting portraits of all the sores, except for the dodge of Marino Falero, instead of the picture there is an inscription: "Here is the place of Marino Falero, executed for treason". In the hall of fate, officials were elected, in the compass hall, convicts were waiting for a verdict. In the hall of ten, trials of political prisoners were held, detention cells were located over the hall, in which the philosopher Giordano Bruno and the womanizer Giacomo Casanova once sat.

There are a lot of halls and rooms in the palace, in which the fate of the country was decided, but today the palace is a museum.