Few other places in the world have entered our imagination as fully as St Mark's Square, which has been in every traveller's dream for centuries. Famous for its Basilica and the Doge's Palace, museums and historic cafés, this is also the only square in the city: all the others in Venice are called ‘campi’ and ‘campielli’.

THE ‘DRAWING ROOM OF EUROPE’ SQUARE

Since the 9th century, the Piazza has gradually become a concentration of art and history treasures. It is difficult for us now to imagine what it looked like originally, much smaller and cultivated with vegetable gardens up to the Batario rivulet, which ran through it about halfway before it was silted up. Across the rio was the church of San Geminiano, which has now disappeared: in its place is the Ala Napoleonica with the Correr Museum, which recounts, in the rich sections of its collections, the civilisation, history and art of Venice.

The very first church was dedicated to St Theodore, protector of the city before St Mark's; next to it, overlooking the water, stood the ancient ducal castle, fortified by towers and protected by a wall. The Piazzetta did not yet exist; the water of the lagoon reached as far as where the Loggetta del Sansovino stands today. It was with the arrival of St Mark's remains in Venice in 828 and the building of the first basilica that the area began to take on the appearance of the monumental heart of the city.

THE TREASURES OF SAN MARCO

The other buildings facing the square today date back to different eras, from the Renaissance to the 19th century.

If one side is occupied by St. Mark's Basilica, the other three sides of the square are delimited almost entirely by the buildings of the Procuratie, divided into three wings: the recently restored Procuratie Vecchie to the north, with the Clock Tower next to it; the Napoleonic Wing to the west and the Procuratie Nuove to the south, where the National Archaeological Museum of Venice is located, in continuity with the rooms of the Correr Museum and the Museum Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

The Procuratie take their name from the fact that they were intended for the Procurators, high officials who administered the city and who by law had to live near the Doge's Palace.

HOW TO RESPECT ITS BEAUTY

The whole area of St Mark's Square is a monumental site of particular value, located in the centre of the UNESCO-protected ‘Venice and its Lagoon’ site. Here, as in the whole of the ancient city of Venice, there are rules to be respected to help keep the extraordinary beauty of this place intact. In particular, it is forbidden to eat and drink while sitting on the ground, on banks and foundations, monuments, bridges, steps, wells, shop windows, and on high-water footbridges. In addition, perhaps not everyone knows that it is also forbidden to feed pigeons and doves.

In the event of non-compliance there are administrative fines ranging from 25 to 500 euro, up to immediate removal from the site.

Fortuny Museum

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Mariano Fortuny's Private Library