Private Venice: Doge's Palace + St. Mark's + Secret Itineraries

On our Private Highlights of Venice Walking Tours visit St. Mark's square and learn the history that lies behind the walls of its most famous landmarks; the St. Mark's Basilica and its Byzantine Heritage, the Doge's Palace and its adjoining prisons, that retain the true secrets to comprehend how a city built on swamps became one of the most enlightened cities in the western world. Ideal city sightseeing tours for the first-time visitor. We start with a sightseeing tour of the real Venice, enter a labyrinth of narrow passageways and alleys where an enchanting city of meandering canals punctuated by delicate bridges awaits you. Explore the lively Campo Santa Maria Formosa with its outstanding Gothic Palaces and at the Scuola di San Marco learn about the famous trade schools of Venice that provided the foundations of the great mercantile empire. You will see Marco Polo's House and enjoy tales of this legendary globe-trotting Venetian. You will admire the Church of San Giovanni & Paolo "the Pantheon of Venice", enter an old merchant's warehouse and see the most beautiful well-head in Venice. And emerge from the labyrinth of the Hidden Venice to discover the Rialto Bridge waiting for you! On our walking tour of the Doge's Palace you will visit the sumptuous and splendidly decorated rooms of what used to be the "brain" that governed the Republic of Venice. Its open architecture testifies to the unbeatable power of Venice, queen of the sea. While its lavish chambers display the immense wealth that the city possessed. And then, as one of the highlights of our Private Walking Tours of the Doge's Palace we will enter the Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace, behind the walls of the elaborately decorated hallways and chambers lay another world closed to everyone but a few trusted men of the Republic! As we tour the public rooms of the Doge's Palace your eyes will be captured by the beauty that is around you. You'll learn about the diverse roles played in society by the Doge and his counsellors, who helped create the many institutions that made Venice the most modern and liberal state in Europe. During the walking tour of the Doge's Palace, you'll cross the famous Bridge of Sighs and visit the prisons of the Doge's Palace. You'll hear about the infamous Council of Ten, and be entertained by the legends and stories of the characters who played a role in creating the most serene of Republics. The next stop on your Private Tour is the Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace is the gruesome Torture Chamber where enemies of the state would be tortured before the state inquisitors. Learn about the single form of torture that the Venetians used and still on display, and why no-one was able to resist the pain! And how prisoners awaiting the same punishment were entertained as they waited their turn! From the torture chamber we head up into "I Piombi" Prisons, so called because they lay directly below the lead roofs of the Doge's Palace. These wooden cells beneath the lead roofs would be intolerably hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter months. It was in these cells that the famous lover Casanova was incarcerated and here you will learn about the trumped up charges that Casanova's enemies used against him to imprison the world's most famous lover. On our Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace tour we will see both the prison cells that Casanova spent time in and you will be entertained by the stories of his two attempts to escape and how finally, he made his way to freedom. While visiting the prisons we'll take a detour on our tour of the Doge's Palace to enter the attic area of the Palace following a narrow gangway we will walk over the giant timbers dating from the 16th Century that support the roof. Here you will learn about how the Venetians ensured that their timber never rotted and how they were able to construct such a heavy structure without using any supporting structure! The last two rooms of the Secret Itineraries of the Doge's Palace belonged to the State inquisitors & three judges of the council of ten. Here we can again admire the works of Venetian masters Tintoretto & Veronese, along with some of the few original pieces of furniture to be found in the Doge's Palace. Which includes a delightful cabinet for court documents with three keyholes that meant all three judges had to be present to open the cabinet. The Venetians fear of corruption knew no limits - which is probably why the Venetian Republic survived longer than any other, until its demise in 1797.