This stunning building, once residence of the Doge and house of the political body of the State, is now the most important and impressive museum in Venice.
For centuries seat of the power of the Venetian Republic, the Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale, was the residence of the Doge as well as house to the political bodies of the State. Adminstrative offices, law courts, grand stairways, council halls, apartments and prisons were all fit into this complex yet efficient beautiful building.
Initially built in the 10th century in a byzantine style, the reconstruction started in 1340 with the creation of the “Sala del Maggior Consiglio”, or Great Council Hall, is a clear example of gothic architecture. Over the following centuries, multiple expansions and changes took place without changing however the overall gothic style. The Plalazzo Ducale lost its functions with the arrival of Napoleon in 1797 and was then converten in a public museum in 1923.
Since 1923 the Palazzo Ducale, which is the most important museum of the Venice, tells the history of the Serenissima, the longest lasting republic in history.
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Every ticket is valid for 3 months and grants 1 admission to each of the following museums: the Doge’s Palace, the Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and the Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.
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