Italy in May - Venice

Combined entry ticket cost 9.5 euros

When you buy a ticket, it allows you entry in Doge’s Palace, Museum Correr, Archeological museum and the library. It is a combined ticket and I recommend that you visit all of the museums. So let’s start with Doge’s Palace.

Located literally right next door to San Marco Cathedral, this building doesn’t look very large from the outside, but only when you go through all the halls with painted ceilings and walls, Senate rooms, look at the size of each of these halls and what each doge tried to bring with him, you realize the enormity of all of this. The building was built in 14-15th centuries and is a real masterpiece of the Gothic architecture. The outside walls are made out of pick Verona marble and the first 2 floors are supported by white arches of colonnades. Inside the court shows the white stoned walls with statues and ornaments around each column, and a large gorgeous staircase with painted steps on the side which was used for ceremonies. Inside there are ceilings with frescoes by Tiepolo and a painting of Titian. I was really impressed by Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the hall of the great council, which is significantly larger than the Sistine Chapel and is covered with paintings. The eastern wall which is 25 by 81 ft has a painting by Tintorettos (father and son) of Paradise which is considered one of the largest paintings in the world. You also get a glance of the prison and can go inside a cell if you want.

This church has very plain look from the outside, the façade is made of brick and it doesn’t have much decoration. But it is one of the major sights in Venice. The entrance is to the side and when you enter, you are very much impressed by the numerous chapels, most with paintings by Titian, but even more than that this is the place of burial of Canova and Titian. Canova wanted to build a monument to Titian and he designed the marble pyramid in neo-classical style. But he died before he could implement it. So his pupils built a different monument to Titian which is grand and looks like one of the antique arcs with lots of statues, and they used Canova’s design for his own monument (you can see Canova’s original model in Museum Correr). The monument is very different from its surroundings and looks very modern compared to the rest of the church décor. The church also has very beautiful choir stalls that have wood carvings and the altar with Titian’s "Assumption of the Virgin."