|
Location Information:
Piazza
San Marco (often known in English as
Saint Mark's Square), is the
principal square of Venice, Italy.
A remark often attributed to
Napoleon (but perhaps more correctly
to Alfred de Musset) calls the
Piazza San Marco "The drawing room
of Europe". It is one of the few
great urban spaces in a Europe where
human voices prevail over the sounds
of motorized traffic, which is
confined to Venice's waterways. It
is the only urban space called a
piazza in Venice; the others,
regardless of size, are called campi.
As the central landmark and
gathering place for Venice, Piazza
San Marco is extremely popular with
tourists, photographers, and
pigeons.
The Piazza originated in the 9th
century as a small area in front of
the original Saint Mark's Basilica.
It was enlarged to its present size
and shape in 1177, when the Rio
Batario, which had bounded it to the
west, and a dock, which had isolated
the Doge's Palace from the square,
were filled in. The rearrangement
was for the meeting of Pope
Alexander III and the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa.
The Piazza has always been seen as
the centre of Venice. It was the
location of all the important
offices of the Venetian state, and
has been the seat of the
archbishopric since the 19th
century. It was also the focus for
many of Venice's festivals. It is a
greatly popular place in Italy even
today. The Piazza is dominated by
the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and
the Basilica's campanile, which
stands apart from it.
The buildings around the Piazza are,
anti-clockwise from the Grand Canal,
the Doge's Palace, St Mark's
Basilica, St Mark's Clocktower, the
Procuratie Vecchie, the Napoleonic
Wing of the Procuratie, the
Procuratie Nuove, St Mark's
Campanile and Loggetta and the
Biblioteca Marciana. The ground
floor of the Procuratie is occupied
by shops and cafés, including the
Caffè Florian and Gran Caffè Quadri.
The Correr Museum and the Museum of
Archaeology are located in some of
the buildings of the Piazza. The
Venetian Mint lies beyond the
Biblioteca Marciana on the riva or
bank of the Grand Canal.
Local
Weather:
|
