Doge's Palace, Venice

The Doge's Palace is one of the jewels of Venice, having both the significance of an institution and a landmark. It was built in the Gothic style and its construction continued in the period 1309-1424. It is located on the shores of the Venetian Lagoon, near Piazza San Marco. Two of the columns of the Doge's Palace are painted in an interesting color - unnatural red. The reason for this color is revealed with a legend, according to which it is based on red, because in the past they smeared the blood of those who were hanged.
The Doge's Palace is a Gothic palace present in the list of emblematic landmarks of Venice. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice - the supreme authority of the former Venetian Republic. In 1923 the palace was turned into a museum and today is one of the 11 museums part of the Venice Museums Foundation.
In 810, Doge Aglelo Uetzazio moved his government headquarters from the island of Malamoco to what is now the Rialto. It was at this time that he decided to build a palace. Unfortunately, very soon after its construction, the Doge's Palace was destroyed, especially after a serious fire in the tenth century. The Doge's Palace in Venice underwent major reconstructions, beginning with the order of Doge Sebastiano Ziani, who ruled from 1172 to 1178. A great reformer, he will drastically change the whole layout of St. Mark's Square. The new palace was built as a fortress, one facade overlooks the Piazza and the other overlooks San Marco. Although only a few traces of this palace remain, some Byzantine-Venetian architectural features can still be seen on the ground floor. 

Political changes in the middle of the 13th century led to the need to rethink the structure of the palace due to the significant increase in the number of members of the Grand Council. The new construction of the Gothic palace began around 1340, focusing mainly on the wall of the building, which is to the lagoon. It was not until 1424 that the Doge Francesco Foscari decided to expand the construction work and add a wing overlooking the Piazza, remodeling the exterior arcade on the ground floor, and completing the completion of the Porta della Carta in 1442.
In 1483 a strong fire broke out in the Doge's Palace in the wing where the Doge's apartments were located. Once again, an important renovation is needed and this time it was commissioned by Antonio Rizzo, who introduced a new Renaissance hue in the architecture of the building. The whole new structure is erected along the canal, and features official government rooms decorated with unique works of art.
Another huge fire in 1547 destroyed some of the rooms on the second floor, but fortunately without undermining the structure as a whole. The palace was being renovated when, in 1577, a third fire destroyed the Scrutinio Room and the Grand Chamber of the Council, along with some works by great artists. In the subsequent restoration work, it was decided to preserve the original Gothic style, despite the presentation of neoclassical alternative projects by the influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. However, there are some classic features - for example, from the XVI century the palace is associated with the prison from the Bridge of Sighs.
Apart from being the residence of the Doge's Palace, the palace also housed the political institutions of the Venetian Republic until the Napoleonic occupation of the city in 1797, when its role inevitably changed. Venice was first under French rule, then under Austrian rule, and finally in 1866 became part of Italy. During this period, the palace was occupied and housed various administrative offices, as well as the Marciana Library building and other important cultural institutions in the city.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the structure of the Doge's Palace in Venice showed clear signs of decline, and the Italian government decided to devote considerable resources to its restoration. All government services will be relocated. Only the State Service for the Protection of Historical Monuments remains. In 1923, the Italian state, the owner of the building, changed its status and turned it into a museum.
The facade of the Doge's Palace is quite interesting. The oldest part of the palace is the wing overlooking the lagoon, the corners of which are decorated with sculptures from the XIV century and are believed to be the work of Filippo Calendario, Matteo Raverti and Antonio Brenjo. The arcade on the ground floor and the upper loggia are decorated with capitals from the 14th and 15th centuries, some of which have been replaced by spears in the 19th century.
In 1438-1442, Giovanni Bon and Bartolomeo Bon built and decorated the Porta della Carta, which served as the ceremonial entrance to the building. Surrounded by Gothic peaks, the gate is crowned with a bust of Mark the Evangelist, above which rises a statue of justice with its traditional symbols. In the space above the cornice there is a sculptural portrait of Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling in front of the lion of St. Mark. It is a 19th-century work by Luigi Ferrari, designed to replace the one destroyed in 1797. Today, the public entrance to the Doge's Palace is through Porta del Fstrumo, on the front line of the building.
The courtyard of the Doge's Palace also has an interesting history. The north side of the courtyard is closed by the crossroads between the palace and the Basilica of San Marco, which was the chapel of the Doges. In the middle of the yard are two wells from the middle of the XVI century. In 1485, the Grand Council decided to build a ceremonial staircase in the courtyard. The design provided a straight axis with a rounded arch, with alternating real stones and red Verona marble, connecting the staircase with Porta della Carta. Since 1567, the staircase is guarded by two colossal statues of Mars and Neptune, which represent the power of Venice by land and sea.
The Doge's apartment is extremely impressive in the Doge's Palace. The rooms where the Doge lives were located between the Rio della Canonica, the water entrance to the building, and the apse of the Basilica of San Marco. The catastrophic fire in this part of the building in 1483 caused important restoration work, and the apartments of the Doges were completed until 1510. This apartment is a prestigious, though not very large residence, given that the premises that are the most -close to the Golden Staircase have a mixed private and public function. In the private apartments, the doge retires at the end of the day and has dinner with his family members. The furniture in these apartments was brought from their own houses.