This morning we had an early tour of
the Doge’s Palace (“Secret Itineraries Tour”) scheduled.
The palace is situated at the end of the
Piazzetta di San Marco adjacent to the Basilica.
The Republic of Venice dates back to
the late 7th Century and continued to exist until its final defeat
at the hands of Napoleon in 1797. The palace was the residence of the Doge or
leader of the Republic of Venice’s Great Council(the Maggior Consiglio or composed of 480 members taken from
patrician families). For centuries the Doge's
Palace had three fundamental roles: as the Doge residence, the seat
of government and as the palace
of justice. The original palace
was built in 810, but was extensively renovated to its present state after a
fire in 1483.
The tour began in the section of
the palace that housed the prison cells,
adjacent torture chambers,
judicial offices, and offices of the “keeper
of the secret archives”, documents charting the public acts (and secret deals)
made by the magistrates of the Republic.
Prisoners passed through the jail
and magistrates rooms (sometimes stopping for a brief visit to the torture
chamber) and if sentenced to a lengthy term, eventually sent to the new
prison. This was accessed via the Ponte dei
Sospiri or Bridge of Sighs, the final walk of prisoners across the water to the
‘new prison’.
The most famous prisoner at the
palace was Giacomo Casanova. Imprisoned
for purportedly “entertaining” several wives of prominent Venetians, his escape
from this prison was legendary.
He climbed
onto the prison roof, managed to slide down a drain pipe, slip inside the
Palace and then persuade someone to open the door, in order for him to then escape calmly on a gondola. According
to legend, he escaped adding a bit of flare by first allowing himself a coffee
in the Piazza San Marco.
After the official tour, we
wandered around the rest of the palace (first getting lost in the new prison
with a brief pang of fear that we may never get out)
walking through rooms with secret entrances
and the
numerous ornate halls occupied by the council for sessions and for entertaining
dignitaries.
The Basilica di San Marco,
the Basilica di San Pietro di
Castella,
the Basilica di Santa Maria della
Salute,
Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore,
Campanile di Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli,
the Clock Tower,
We had the rest of the day to
wander,
and get lost in Venice.
We
walked about 5 miles down little alley ways, along canals, and over
bridges.
We stopped at a little pizza
place to refuel.
Along our trek, we came across
the University of Venice, and stopped to check out an exhibit in the courtyard
of solar art.
We also found the Museo de Musica
in the Chiesa di San Maurizio. There was an exhibit of musical instruments
and instrument making related to Antonio Vivaldi (“Four Seasons”- not the
Frankie Valle kind). It was quite
interesting, and about the only thing in Venice that was free!
Eventually, as daylight was
waning, we found our way back to our home base.
Across from the hotel, Dave found an art gallery whose pieces looked vaguely familiar. It turns out the sculptor was Igor Mitoraj, the same artist whose works we saw 4 years ago in Agrigento, Sicily! Still can't afford one.
Tonight we pack and head to the
airport via vaporetto. We did a dry run
to be certain we would not miss the 7 am boat.
Poor Dave and Molly have a 6 am flight, so they will need to take a
private water taxi that will be picking them up shortly (actually at 3:30
am). We decided to say goodbye tonight
rather than interrupt our beauty sleep.
