2015 ITALY Venice 45 - San Marco Square Gave Me Chills

Finally we wound our way into St. Marco Square (or piazza). It is shaped like a laid down "L." We entered through one of the passageways in the right building which connected the shopping district to the square. This is the Old Procuratie, a 12th century building, which housed offices and apartments of the procurators or imperial agents of the government in San Marco. It was originally two stories, but after a fire it was rebuilt in 1520 with three stories.

Two additional buildings are joined together to surround San Marco Square. The one to the left in this photo is the New Procuratie completed in 1640. In the space at the back were wings from the two original buildings and a small church. The wings and church were demolished in 1810. The space was then enclosed at the far end by a third building called the Napoleonic Wing of Procuraties (with red banners). You can see how huge this area is by the size of the people compared to the monumental buildings.

The newest section housed the Napoleonic governor after the fall of the Republic, then the Austrian governor, then the kings of Italy, and now the President of the Italian Republic when he is in Venice. The Correr Museum is also located there. It contains art and artifacts showing Venetian life and culture.

Also notice the wet spots around the circles in the piazza photo above. As Venice is below sea level, during storms water runs out of these drains into the Grand Canal. But when the tide is high, it has the reverse effect and water surges from the lagoon into the square.

You see here the beginnings of water seeping into the square during high tide on this day. And you saw in an earlier blog photo just how high the water can get. As we continued to explore the area, the workers were setting up the raised walkways for later in the day, so tourists could still visit but avoid wading in the sea surge. You can see the raised walkways in the photo below, if you look through the balustrade.

There is a covered walking arcade lining the perimeter of the square to shelter strollers from weather. Shops and old, famous (and expensive) coffee houses are located here, too. To name one...Caffè Florian which opened in 1720. It shares (with Café Procope in Paris) the distinction of being the oldest known coffee house in continuous operation. It looks much like the classic caffès we saw in Turin.

There are also trattorias with their table and chairs spilling out into the square.  Each establishment has a different color chair to tell them apart.  We weren't hungry or thirsty, just wanted to roam and rubberneck.
After we entered the main square and took that all in, we bared toward the left and shorter end the of "L." This is the piazzetta (or little square). To our left was St. Mark's Basilica, the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice (northern Italy). It took from 978 until 1092 to construct. It was originally the chapel of the Doge (the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice during medieval and renaissance times) and did not become the city's cathedral until 1807.

It is 251x205 feet in size and has 5 towers. The tallest is 141 feet outside and 92 feet inside. It is a wonderful example of Italo-Byzantine and Gothic architecture. It has a nickname of the Church of Gold, for its abundant gold decorations and mosaics. It is really a sight to behold with endless elaborate decor and sculpture. The golden winged lion, the emblem of Venice, is prominent at its peak above the entrance. Actually the winged lion was everywhere! Here he is with St. Mark.

Attached to that is the Doge's or Ducale (Duke's) Palazzo built in the Venetian Gothic style. One side faces the piazzetta and the other side has a sweeping view of the Grand Canal. There were multiple constructions-fires-reconstructions of this edifice. This "version" of the palace was constructed from 1424 to 1442, with a redo on the canal side in 1483 after yet another fire. An internal courtyard and private apartments of its previous residents can be viewed in the current museum there.

Across the square from the palace is the Campanile (Tower .. more on that in the next blog) of St. Mark's Square and the National Library of St. Mark's (which is attached to the New Procuratie building). It is one of the earliest depositories in the country, holding one of the greatest classical text collections in the world.

The end of St. Mark's piazzetta is the "front porch" of Venice. Along the Grand Canal see the Doge's Palace to the left and the New Procuratie building to the right. This view takes your breath away. It is the heart beat of Venice and we can see why everyone falls in love with this magical place.

For more info on San Marco Square see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco
Click on the diagram for the layout of the square. Click right or left arrows for other close-up photos. We entered the square in this diagram through the building on the left. The church is at the top. The view of the Canal is in the upper, right. The tower is the smaller dark square in the middle.