The beautiful Saint Mark’s square is the heart of the city, always crowded and surrounded by wonderful buildings. This is the only square in Venice called ‘piazza’ (=square), while the others are referred as ‘campo’, that means field. The most relevant building on the square is the homonym cathedral, an important symbol of the city together with the bell towel. Adjacent to these, you will find Doge’s palace, the old residence of the first authority during the Venetian Republic and now a museum.
Nowadays the square has a trapezoid shape, but it wasn’t always this. The square has increased its area with the centuries. Initially, the Doge’s Palace was a castle apart from the rest of the buildings, that was damaged by a fire. Venice suffers many floods and the pavement of the square appears now higher that the initial one. The ostentatious square is definitely a masterpiece and is usually the first approach to this beautiful city.
