On my second day in Venice, I decided to see its main attractions.
Having heard so much about long lines on St. Mark’s Square, I bought an online ticket that that covers four museums: Doge’s Palace, the Correr Museum, National Archaeological Museum and the Library. When I got to the most famous square in Venice it was not as crowded as I expected and nobody was standing in line to go to the museums, nobody! Also there were few pigeons on the square. The authorities must have done something about them.
The St. Mark’s Square inspires awe. I gasped once I saw it. It was the same emotions that I experience on the Palace Square in my native St. Petersburg regardless of how many times I was there. The grandeur of every building on St. Mark’s radiates wealth and power. A visitor gets the message of how mighty the Venetian Republic was. If this message is still strong these days the impression must have been even more dramatic in the Middle Ages.
The Republic of Venice was a democracy. It was ruled by the Great Council led by the Doge who was elected. Its unique form of government was not perfect. However, the Republic remained free for almost 1000 years; it prospered to become a maritime and territorial empire; art flourished in Venice. Walls and ceilings in the doge’s Palace are decorated with works by Veronese and Tintoretto.
Attached to the Doge’s Palace is a prison which is connected to the Place by the infamous Bridge of Sighs. The Bridge was the last place from where a convicted person could see the outside world for the last time and therefore to sigh. The Bridge is covered from all sides so prisoners could not jump from it.
The prison looks fearsome, but it has only a few cells. Does it mean that there were not many criminals in the Republic of Venice?
I spent my second and third days in Venice going to its museums and walking its streets. Now I knew how to navigate in it and was not afraid to forever get lost on the island.
Palazzo Ca’d’Oro was an interesting combination of old and new. Medieval settings were supplemented by modern installations like the clock below. Every minute, a man wipes out the clock hands and redraws them to show the current time. This is actually the artist who videotaped himself in his studio.
After one week in Italy, I was heading to its neighbor, Slovenia.
Wonderful! Roy, Maddie and I saw some of those things too! But not the guys painting the hands on the clock!
There is so much to see in Venice. It all depends on how much time one spends there. I was advised to stay in Venice for at least 5 days but we are always pressed for time.
Cool! The bridge of Sighs and the prison are not looking very gloomy (in comparison to Petropavlovskaya Krepost, for instance;) Probably in Italy the prisons are as comfortable as hostels and one gets pizza and pasta instead of balanda:)
You could be right about pizza and pasta. In fact, new cells were added to the prison because the old cells were not spacious, airy and light enough.