Travel Reference
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ments and extensions continuing through the 15th century. The palace was just finished
when a fire swept through the building in 1577, leaving Venice with a tricky choice: re-
build in the original gotico fiorito (flamboyant Gothic) style, or go with the trendy new
Renaissance style proposed by Palladio and his peers. The choice was Gothic, but instead
of brick, the facade was a puzzlework of white Istrian stone and pink Veronese marble
with a lofty, lacy white loggia facing the Grand Canal. In 1853, critic and unabashed
Gothic architecture partisan John Ruskin called the Palazzo Ducale the 'central building
of the world'.
While the doge's palace is a show-stopper, many Venetian nobles weren't living too
shabbily themselves by the 14th century. Even stripped of its original gilding, the Ca'
d'Oro is a Grand Canal highlight. The typical Venetian noble family's palazzo (palace)
had a water gate that gave access from boats to a courtyard or ground floor, with the grand
reception hall usually on the piano nobile ('noble' or 1st floor). The piano nobile was
built to impress, with light streaming through double-height loggia windows and balus-
traded balconies. The 2nd floor might also feature an elegant arcade topped with Venetian
Gothic marble arches and trefoils, with crenellation crowning the roofline like a tiara.
TOP FIVE DIVINE ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCES
Basilica di San Marco Domes glimmer with golden mosaics.
Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore Palladio's expansive, effortlessly uplifting interiors.
Scuola Grande dei Carmini Longhena's stairway to heaven.
Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli The little Renaissance miracle in polychrome marble.
Schola Spagnola (Spanish Synagogue) Lofty, elliptical women's gallery with operatic drama.
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