Then come to Venice. Of course, some would say that nobody comes here any more - it's too crowded.
Today, I did the Doge's Palace on my own because I needed a refresher. It is a large and overwhelming place, sometimes too much for my limited synaptic functions. I have taken to writing crib notes, which is normal for teachers, lecturers, and others who wish to give the impression of erudition and and having an encylopedic grasp of facts and details. Hah!
The Doge's Palace, (Palazzo Ducale in Italian) is a must on the Venice trail: extraordinary scale; historical and politcal importance; architectural and artistic interest. It is filled with oil paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries all of which propagandise Venice: its military (naval) prowess, its wide-ranging possessions, its religious fidelity, its successful system of government, its physical beauty, its its wealth, its international outlook, and its own greatness. The whole Palace was a giant commercial meant to impress international visitors for eight centuries, and it still impresses. Today's visitors won't be feted like those lucky ones who were invited to dine with Henry III of France at the Doge's Palace in 1578 when all the plates, cutlery, glasses were made of sugar. Try that for your next dinner party. Venice was such a show-off!
It was built in the 14th century of brick and then covered with small slabs of istrian marble and Verona marble, giving the Doge's Palace that pink-white look.
In the photo above you can see a building (with scaffolding on it) to the right of the Palace.That is the old prison of Venice. You can also see between the two the dark outkine of a small bridge reaching from the Doge's Palace to the prison. That is the Bridge of Signs, so called because prisoners who had trials in the Doge's Palace were escorted to prison over the Bridge of Sighs and, realising they would die in prison of rats, cold, heat, or other prisoners, they would sigh as they crossed over. Let's call it urban myth.
Still, the bridge is the most photographed thing in Venice.
PS the prison today is a tourist destination only, i.e., no prisoners left, which is not to say there are no criminals in Venice.
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