The only place called Piazza in Venice is
Piazza San Marco, which lies in the heart of the water city, and boasts many iconic buildings such as Basilica di San Marco, Campanile, Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and the fanciful Torre Dell'Orologio, and is perhaps one of the most photographed places on earth. Naturally, I was not able to resist the temptation to capture and interpret with my personal lens when I returned to Venice in October 2012.
Left to right: Columns of St Marco and St Theodore, Campaneli from Palazzo Ducale, Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sign)
Though Basilica San Marco was the most important architecture on the square, the novelty of my second trip to Venice was the Doge's Palace, Palazzo Ducale. I'd visited the Basilica in my previous day trip from Florence.
The Palazzo was elegant in the exterior and extravagant in the interior, and I was repeatedly astounded by the immense wealth that ancient republic had accumulated through trade and sea power.
San Christopher by Titian
Left to right: opulent Palazzo Ducale and the dismal view of Ponte dei Sospiri from the prison
From the Palazzo, the dominant view was naturally the Basilica. I was very taken by the onion domes of the byzantine structure.
The mosaics graced the exterior and interior of the Basilica were miracles, shimmered in the dark or light.
Treasury in the Basilica
The most magical moment to see the Basilica was dawn or dusk, when the light insight the Basilica glowed light lantern.
Finally, there was that fanciful structure in the Piazza -
Torre Dell'Orologio (Clock Tower), which had "two great bronze figures, hinged at the waist, strike the hours on a bell. One is old and the other young, to show the passing of time and, although said to represent shepherds (they are wearing sheepskins) or giants (they are huge figures of great mass, necessary so that their form can be recognized at a distance) they are always known as "the Moors" because of the dark patina acquired by the bronze. The bell is also original and is signed by one Simeone who cast it at the Arsenal in 1497."
[source: wikipedia]
It was hard to capture the "Moors" in motion and after several attempts, below video was the best result I had:
Before I left Venice for Bologna, I returned to the Piazza for another look at night. A most amazing Piazza, day or night!
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Italy,
Austria and Italy Trip 2012
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