The history of the Doge's palace in Venice begins in medieval times and continues with numerous extensions, renovations and demolitions aimed at adapting the building to the new needs of the city and in particular to the need to give a seat to the governing bodies that, increasing in number, began to complement the doge in the administration, depriving him of certain powers and decreasing the space at his disposal..
In 810, after Venice had become capital of the Serenissima, taking the place of Eraclea and Metamaucum, the seat of the doge was built there, probably in the form of a fortified and turreted palace, soon flanked by a basilica.
The complex remained essentially unchanged in its appearance until the 12th century, when, with the dogate of Sebastiano Ziani, an era characterized by numerous renovations was inaugurated, involving all three wings. In the southern, western, and eastern wings, work began before 1340, in 1424, and in 1483, respectively, in the latter case as a result of a fire that was to be followed by two others, which resulted in the destruction of a great many works of art, promptly replaced by the work of the leading Venetian masters. Having built the New Prisons and renovated the first floor between the 16th and 17th centuries, the palace was no longer the subject of major works, but rather suffered damage that led to the removal of numerous works of art.
With the annexation of Venice to the Kingdom of Italy, the building came under the latter's jurisdiction and became a museum venue, a function it continues to perform by housing the Civic Museum of the Doge's Palace, part of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) and visited by 1,319,527 people in 2012.Annuario turismo 2012 - Comune di Venezia - Assessorato al Turismo.
First locations
Eraclea According to tradition around 697 the Venetian refugees who had taken refuge in the lagoon elected Paolo Lucio Anafesto their doge, and it became necessary to build a house to become the seat of government. Tithes were instituted and a number of serfs were granted to the doge. The doge's seat was placed in Eraclea: there the first Doge's Palace was built, the form of which is unknown today as its location is unknown and no ruins remain.. The palace, decorated with marbles of oriental origin, must have looked very different from the present one, and much more unadorned.. Due to the continuing disputes between Heraclians and Equilians and the killing of Orso Ipato, the third doge, dogal functions were briefly delegated to an annually elected magistrate.
Metamaucum The transfer of the doge's seat to Metamaucum, a fortified city with a flourishing economy due to cultivation corresponding to modern Malamocco, took place under the rule of Teodato Ipato, son of Orso: this choice is said to have been made because he accused the inhabitants of Eraclea of having killed his father. A second palace therefore had to be built, as the new doge, a native of Eraclea, had no home of his own in the new city. After sixty-eight years and the succession of five doges, Agnello Participazio was elected, who decided to relocate the ducal seat again since Metamaucum had turned out to be an unsafe city..
Transfer to Venice The place chosen for the building of the new doge's seat was the area of Rivoalto, distant from the sea and separated from it by several islands and therefore safer. This relocation can be dated to the year 812. The new palace, called palatium ducis, was built around 814 near the church dedicated to St. Theodore, later replaced by the basilica of St. Mark after a fire, on land owned by the doge.. The building site was completed under the dogate of Pietro IV Candiano: no trace remains of that construction, erected in the same area now occupied by the Doge's Palace, but it is likely that the building was made (at least partially) of stone and had four watchtowers at the corners and a courtyard in the middle.. The fact that the doge's house was extremely fortified is attested firstly by the fact that it managed to withstand the revolt that broke out in 976 against Doge Pietro IV Candiano,. and secondly by the fact that Doge Pietro I Orseolo was able to personally bear the expenses of rebuilding the palace after it had been hit by fire, a sign that the damage must not have been excessive.. The reconstructed building was characterized by the presence of a fortified central body with angular towers, surrounded by water, traces of which can still be glimpsed in the layout of the loggia plan. These structures were characterized by the preponderance of rooms dedicated to the doge over those that were to house the other magistracies: this is indicative of their subordination to that of the leader and political head of the republic.
Otto III, Henry IV and Henry V in Venice
Twenty-two years after the aforementioned fire, Otto III decided to travel to Venice to meet with Pietro II Orseolo, son of Pietro I.. The doge prepared an apartment for him in the eastern tower.. The palace was equipped with at least two towers, one western and one eastern, placed at either end of the facade facing the lagoon. Chronicles of the time also describe the emperor's appreciation of the palace's interior decorations, equal perhaps only to those of imperial residences, which had been perfected by the then Doge Pietro II Orseolo..
From 998, the year when Otto III was a guest at the Doge's Palace, to 1105 there are no sources that give precise information about the renovations undergone by the building's factory.. It is, however, probable that Domenico Selvo, doge between 1071 and 1084, oversaw the decoration of the palace as he himself gave a strong impetus to that of the adjoining church.. Nevertheless, all these decorations were destroyed in the subsequent restorations and in particular by the fire of 1574: as Francesco Sansovino recalls, "the doors of Parian marble columned and figured with great skill" that were present in the hall of the Four Doors were destroyed. The next doge Vitale Faliero had the opportunity to host Emperor Henry IV in the palace, who, being very devout, had come to the city as the body of Mark the Evangelist was there.. Under the dogeship of Ordelafo Faliero two fires occurred at the distance of two months, approximately around the year 1105, which destroyed various city buildings. The more tragic of the two was probably the second, which broke out due to lightning and spread due to strong winds. The damage that this fire caused to the basilica and the palace is only hinted at by historians of the time,. who do not even describe the renovation overseen by the doge, which was concluded before 1116, the year in which he hosted Henry V.
Expansions
The columns of St. Mark's Square
According to chronicles of the period, the doges who ruled between 1117 and 1172 did not carry out renovations inside the palace,. but it would date back to that time the arrival in Venice of several marbles from the East, including the columns that characterize the small square in front of the palace, which possibly arrived from Constantinople in 1172, that is, just after the death of Vitale II Michiel. However, the date of the arrival of the columns should more likely be dated to the dogate of Domenico Michiel: it would have been the belonging to the same family of the two doges that misled the writers of the time. This second theory is supported by several elements: first, the dogate of Vitale II Michiel was characterized by the outbreak of strong contrasts between Venetians and Byzantines, and the latter would never have allowed the removal of the columns;. secondly, Francesco Foscari, in stating that "those columns stood for many years on the ground, no person being found whose disposition was sufficient to raise them up", suggests that a fair amount of time must have passed between their arrival and their erection, which would be unlikely if their arrival dated to the end of Vitale II Michiel's dogate or the beginning of Sebastiano Ziani's. The arrival of the columns in Venice must therefore have occurred around the year 1130.
Sebastiano Ziani During the dogate of Sebastiano Ziani, elected in 1172, the complex underwent a first major renovation, which transformed the original fortress into an elegant complex consisting of two buildings, one facing the lagoon and the other the small square, built according to the stylistic features of Venetian-Byzantine art, in accordance with the main architecture contemporary to it. It is probable that the Lombard Nicolò Barattiero, the one who erected the two columns and made the Rialto Bridge in a primary form, played a primary role in its realization, and that his style was influenced by elements of the Lombard tradition.. Just after the completion of the building site, Pope Alexander III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who had reached a pacification through dogal intermediation, stayed in Venice. In particular, it is known that the emperor stayed in Venice for two months, sojourning at the palace..
Exterior renovation project
According to modern historians toward the small square stood the palace of justice, characterized by a large portico on the ground floor, an open loggia on the first floor, and offices on the second floor, while toward the pier stood the palace for assemblies, which extended from the small square to the present Ponte della Paglia... For the reconstruction of the original design one can rely on the traces contained in Bellini's work Procession in St. Mark's Square, in which the Procuratie Vecchie and the Ospizio, on the left and right sides respectively, feature a characteristic portico, which must have been present in the Doge's Palace whose upper floors, decorated either by floral frescoes, stuccoed bands, or roundels in the same material, can be reconstructed with less precision, asserting that perhaps the first floor was characterized by small loggias and windows and the second floor by round arches with simple capitals and crowning spires.
Interior renovation project
The complex was home at the same time to private dwellings, public offices, private businesses, and prisons. No sources remain that attest exactly to the layout of the rooms within these buildings. However, one can speculate by comparing documents and other non-technical evidence. Specifically, the building toward the lagoon, or town hall, would have housed:
on the first floor the double-height Great Council Hall, surrounded by a portico, the location of which is known from documents of the time attesting to the fact that it was connected with the courtyard and flanked by other smaller rooms, including the chapel of St. Nicholas, facing the canal; on the upper floor the rooms of the Avogadori, the Censori, the Lower Chancery and the Quarantia, the latter, copiously recorded in the historical archives because in the latter the councilors met during voting, connected by narrow corridors to the larger room on the first floor; on the second floor other rooms dedicated to administration, including the upper ducal chancery.
The building toward the present square, known as the Palace of Justice, once fronted perhaps by a canal, would have housed:
on the first floor public offices, facing before the fortified rampart, as well as stores and apartments rented to private individuals, connected with the waterfront; on the second floor the offices of judicial offices, such as that of the Lords of the Night, the Avocadores Comunis, the magistrates of the Piovego, and the Cattaveri; on the last or penultimate floor the prisons, moved from 1297 to the first floor, freeing rooms occupied by private individuals.
Traces of the latter building still remain today: fragments of basement in Istrian stone and some terracotta herringbone pavements.