Palazzo Ducale and the Museums of Venice

Our next stop was Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s palace. We met the lost Kannadiga couple again on our way to the palace. We were glad to see them safely back (no guilty feeling anymore) and the auntie already had a costume change. Apparently, a Belgian guy who works for Mittal Steel helped them because his boss was Indian and got them onto another public transport boat. They sounded relieved and shared their travel plans with us – they are leaving to Florence tomorrow as well. Paaren!

The Doge’s palace was the seat of the government of the Venetian Republic. This was a part of our Museum pass that gives access to the four museums of St. Mark’s square, namely, Palazzo Ducale, Museo Correr, Museo Archeologico Nazionale and Biblioteca Marciana. We got the museum pass from this website for €16.50 per person - http://vivaticket.it/index.php?nvpg[sell]&cmd=tabellaPrezzi&pcode=2454585&tcode=tl011376, for students up to 25 years of age, it is available for €10.50.

Atlas and Hercules at the palace

The Doge was the thala of the Venetian Republic and was elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy, which means he was stinking rich even before he became Doge. The Doge’s apartments in the palace were apparently sometimes smaller than the Doge’s actual house so he was allowed to bring furniture and stuff from his place to keep in the apartments. 

The Doge system was abolished when the last Doge was abdicated when Napolean Bonaparte invaded and ended the Venetian Republic. The palace is huge and some of the important rooms like The Great Council have intricate paintings and gold stucco in the ceilings. I was gaping at those ceilings with mouth open. The palace itself requires about 3-4 hours if you want to see it in detail. But we didn’t have that luxury, so we went to the Museo Correr(Correr Museum) building that also houses the Archaeological Museum and National Library of St. Mark’s(Museo Archeologico Nazionale and Biblioteca Marciana). This was gigantic in comparison and the sheer size of the exhibits was so overwhelming. There were a lot of Roman sculptures, some of them with no heads and broken arms. Two things were very striking – the armoury with olden day weapons and the prison that was in complete contrast with the rest of the palace. The armoury’s weapon display itself is enough to scare the enemy out. 

The armoury

 

The prison

The museums and the palace have free toilets so if you have paid money to visit the museums, might as well use the free toilets instead of looking/paying for them outside.

We left around 1815 and started walking back to Piazza Roma. We again followed the signboards and after a gelato boost, we walked back through the now-familiar Rialto Bridge and reached the bus station in no time. We stopped for great views at the bridge though and clicked some pictures while we were at it. Varalaaru mukkiyam amaichare. The oldest and most beautiful bridge in the Grand Canal, the Rialto is very lively and filled with tourists. It is pretty crowded as well so watch out for pickpockets. 

We got back to the hotel and wasted no time in ordering our pizza (just one today). Tomorrow, we will leave to Florence. Train leaves at 0837 so it’s time for bed! Ciao!

Expenses:

·      Museum Pass - €16.50 per person (link given above)

·      Dinner - €11.00

·      Round trip tickets from Mestre’s Via Bergamo bus stop to Piazza Roma -  €5.20 for two