5/5 Andrey N. 3 years ago on Google
A
lavish
building
that
embodies
the
glory
and
cruelty
of
the
historic
Venetian
republic.
For
more
than
a
thousand
years,
from
726
to
1797,
the
maritime
city-state
of
Venice
was
a
republic
ruled
by
an
elected
doge,
or
duke.
The
luxurious
palace
built
for
the
doge
and
his
administration
in
the
14th
and
15th
centuries
displays
the
extraordinary
wealth
and
influence
the
city
had
attained
by
that
point
in
its
history
through
the
skill
of
its
sailors
and
the
rapacity
of
its
merchants.
Much
of
Venice’s
trade
was
with
the
Muslim
world,
and
this
is
reflected
in
the
unique
style
of
the
palace’s
facades,
which
give
a
distinctively
Islamic
twist
to
European
Gothic
architecture.
Center
of
law
and
government.
The
palace
fulfilled
a
range
of
functions,
serving
as
living
quarters
for
the
doge,
government
offices,
a
venue
for
receiving
foreign
ambassadors,
a
parliament,
a
courthouse,
and
a
prison.
The
vast
rooms
of
the
state
apartments
are
embellished
with
scores
of
paintings
by
Renaissance
artists,
mostly
trumpeting
the
glories
and
triumphs
of
the
Venetian
republic.
The
palace
also
holds
plentiful
evidence
of
the
darker
aspects
of
the
Venetian
state,
which
earned
a
fearsome
reputation
for
ruthlessness
and
secrecy.
Political
prisoners,
tried
in
secret,
were
incarcerated
in
cells
under
the
roof
of
the
palace,
known
as
the
Piombi
(the
“leads”),
or
in
the
gloomy
basement
rooms
of
the
Pozzi
(the
“wells”).
A
new
prison
was
built
alongside
the
palace
in
1600,
connected
to
it
by
the
elegant
Bridge
of
Sighs,
named
for
the
prisoners’
presumed
expressions
of
woe.
After
the
end
of
the
era
of
the
doges,
the
palace
still
housed
administrative
offices
until
1923,
when
it
became
a
museum
and
found
its
modern
vocation
as
a
magnet
for
tourists.
