Plazza San Marco, Venice

Known as the city center or the heart of the city, St. Mark's Square is the home to many fabulous buildings.  The Palace of the Doge is at the entrance of the square from the lagoon.  This palace was the home of the doge (an elected duke), the meeting place for the Senate, and the place of judgement when a crime was committed when Venice was its own city-state.  Venice was a republic for hundreds of years until Napoleon oconquered it in 1798.

Below is the entrance to the palace from St. Mark's Square known as Porta Della Carta, meaning port of the paper.  The name is based on the use of the entrance when it was built in the 12th century.  Government decrees were posted here for public notice and the professional scribes guild had scribes available for public use here as well.

Connected to the Palace of the Doge on the opposite side of the Square, the city's prison was located next to the palace.  This allowed for the secure transportation of prisoners to the palace for the judgement of their crimes.  Below is the Bridge of Sighs.  Built over the Rio di Palazzo between the 16th-17th centuries, the closed bridge was given its name by 19th century writers who imagined that those who cross that bridge must sigh. In anticipation of judgement or in beginning a lengthy imprisonment.

The Basilica of San Marco (St. Mark) is a Byzantine Gothic style church which was once the Ducal Chapel.  It is a State Church and not connected to the Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox religions that are most commonly practiced in Venice.  It is run by Procurators of San Marco rather than clergy.  These men were from noble families and chosen by the elected doge.  The five entrances each have an arched mosaic that illustrate a story from the life of St. Mark.

 Located behind the Palace of the Doge, it is in the center of the city and is also the lowest point of the city.  It is the only large structure built with marble.  The marble of various colors and designs is only the facade, but even that is enough that the basilica is sinking into the ground due to the weight.  At high tide, the square is often  the first placed to flood - not from the canals, but from beneath as water will seep in from between the stones if the square.

Located to the right of the basilica on St. Mark's Square is the clock Tower (Torre dell' Orologio) that was built between 1496 and 1499.  The clock has several parts. At the top, there are two men - one young, one old - that use the hammers on the bell at the top of each hour. I caught video of that and I will post it when I return.  The clock portion on the face of the building tells the time in multiple ways. There is are two blocks that use Roman Numerals.  The center of the round clock shows the phases if the moon that help determine the tides. And the arms on the clock show the time of day.