Doge's Palace

For centuries the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) was the seat of power of the Republic of Venice, holding the doge's apartments, the councils of state, the law courts and the prisons under one roof. Its pink-and-white Venetian Gothic facades rise over open arcades beside St Mark's Basilica, facing both the Piazzetta and the lagoon.

From the courtyard, the Giants' Staircase, guarded by Sansovino's statues of Mars and Neptune, and the gilded Golden Staircase lead to the state rooms. Their walls and ceilings are covered with paintings by Tintoretto, Veronese and their contemporaries. The vast Hall of the Great Council holds Tintoretto's Paradise, among the largest paintings on canvas in the world. The route then crosses the Bridge of Sighs to the New Prisons, while Casanova's famous escape was made from cells beneath the palace roof.

The palace has been a museum since 1923 and draws more than a million visitors a year. Seeing the main rooms and the prisons takes a couple of hours.