Long Live the Republic!

The Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) in Venice, Italy

One of Italy's grandest and most history-saturated town halls is this massive Gothic-Renaissance confection (raised in 1309, and rebuilt after a 1577 fire).

Its public halls are heavily decorated with canvases and frescoes by Venice's greatest artists—works by Veronese and Tintoretto are exceedingly abundant. The signposted route walks you through, and will take about 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on how interested you get.

The Bridge of Sighs crosses the Rio di Palazzo, so for the full effect you need to see it from the outside, so you'll have to stand on the next bridge down the canal, a wide ponte crossing the canal as part of the Riva degli Schiavoni (I call it the "Bridge of Tourists Looking at the Bridge of Sighs").

Off the back of the building, you cross over the famous, enclosed Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), named by romantic-era writers who imagined condemned prisoners letting out a lament as they crossed and got their final glimpse of Venice and her lagoon through the tiny windows in the center. The cells on the other side preserve the scrawls and graffiti of ancient prisoners.

But even with an informative audioguide and the English placards describing the artworks and the civic purpose of each room, I find wandering the public halls leaves me a bit cold.

The real governing of the Venetian Republic was not done here in plain sight. True power was wielded in a network of low-ceilinged, wooden-plank corridors and tiny offices wrapped around this public palace like a clandestine cocoon, the entrances hidden behind secret doors set into all those fancy oil paintings and carved woodwork of the public rooms. Here private secretaries kept records and compiled accusations made against people both lowly and high-placed (see sidebar).

Getting voted off the island
Any Venetian citizen could accuse someone of misdeeds by writing the denunciation down and slipping it through specially placed "Lion's Mouth" slots in the Palazzo Ducale's walls. While this activity sounds like prime breeding ground for backstabbing, it was a highly regulated procedure. All accusations had to be signed and witnessed, and if they proved merely to be slanderous, the would-be denouncer was in serious legal trouble of his own.

The only way to see this inner sanctum—and for the best primer on Venetian politics and historical intrigues—is to take the excellent 90-minute "Secret Itineraries" tour.

This tour will show you where the dreaded Council of Ten met to decide the fate of the Republic—and the people who crossed them—the inquisition room, and the "leads," the prison cells in the roof rafters where your guide will recount the tale of Casanova's famous escape. After the tour, you can visit the public palace on your own.

Hint: You'll want to book the tour in advance—not necessarily way in advance, but at least the day before, as there are only a few tour in English each day (at 9:55am, 10:45am, and 11:35am) and they can fill up. Stop by or call +39-041-520-9070.

Piazzetta San Marco
tel. +39-041-271-5911, www.museiciviciveneziani.it
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