Doge's apartment

The rooms reserved for the Doge were always located in this wing of the Palace, between the Rio della Canonica (via water entrance), the current Golden Staircase and the apse of the Basilica of San Marco, which was the Chapel Ducal.

The entire area was destroyed by a fire in 1483 and was then rebuilt with Renaissance ways and forms. The restructuring of the so-called Doge's apartment also dates back to this phase, with the reception rooms, now included in the tour, in which the carved wooden ceilings, the monumental marble fireplaces with rich and very fine carved decorations, the pictorial friezes stand out. and the stuccoes.

Those intended for private life, about twenty, developed, at least until the seventeenth century, in the mezzanines above and below the main floor. The fundamental nucleus of the apartment was therefore a certainly prestigious home, but not too large.

It was far from rare, then, that a doge before the election could have had in his house of origin comforts, environments and services superior to those that the Republic reserved for him, as if to underline that he was indeed the symbol of State, but also and above all his first servant.

Furniture and objects were brought from the old house and the heirs would have promptly removed them upon the death of the Doge, to make room for the furnishings of the successor.

Map: Doge's apartment