Venice & St. Mark's Square

We've arrived in Venice.  Our home for our last three nights is the Hotel Campiello.  The hotel is less than 100 yards from the San Zaccaria stop on the water at the end of the Grand Canal.  We walked right off the boat with our luggage and were in the lobby in about three minutes.

Venice is fairly compact and you can easily walk everywhere you want to go through its maze of alleys and bridges.  The heart of Venice is St. Mark's Square, with the Basilica, Doge's Palace, Correr Museum, and Bell Tower all surrounding the square.  During the day, its one huge mosh pit of people trying to get around.  Fortunately, our hotel is only about a five minute walk to the square so we're right in the heart of Venice but on a quiet back alley away from all the commotion.

Mosaic on the outside of St. Mark's Basilica

We headed out to the square to see the action for ourselves.  First up, we went in and toured St. Mark's Basilica.  This church dates to 1064 and is gilded to the hilt in gold, with colored marble and extensive mosaic murals on the walls and in the floors.  Given the era and location in Italy, there is a significant amount of influence from the Byzantine era.  Given all of the other churches and duomos we've seen since we arrived, the Basilica was smaller than I expected.  The mosaics and gold present throughout were much more extensive and impressive than any of the others we saw.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so unfortunately I have none to share.

Inner Courtyard at the Doge's Palace

After we visited the Basilica, we decided to go ahead and tour the Doge's Palace as it was later in the day and there was no line.  The Doge or duke was the Venetian ruler and the Palace was his home.  Venice was the center of power in the world for four centuries between 1150 and 1550.  In one sense, the Doge was an elected king, chosen by nobles from within their ranks to carry out their laws and decisions.  The Palace was very impressive in how it was laid out and the way the rooms would function to reinforce the sense of power carried out by the Doge -- the same way the Oval Office reinforces the power of the Office of the President.

Because today was a travel day, we didn't know how much sightseeing, if any, we'd get done.  This opens up our schedule quite a bit so we'll be able to soak in a little more Venice.  That shouldn't be a problem.