Paradiso Perduto

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We had some unfinished big ticket items from our last visit to Venice back in 2011. We started out early in order to try and avoid the crowds of tourists that frequent St Mark’s Square, and made our way by Vaporetto to San Marco, which is where the Doge’s Palace is located.



The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice. The first Doge’s Palace was built in the 9^th century, and was rebuilt several times down through the centuries due to fire destroying the structure. The current gothic structure was commenced around 1340. The Palace was the heart of the political life and public administration of the Venetian Republic. Therefore, when the Republic fell in 1797, its role inevitably changed. Venice was firstly subjected to French rule, then to Austrian, and ultimately, in 1866, it became part of a united Italy.



The rooms of the Doge's Palace became larger and more ornate as we walked through, with each room having either a judicial or governmental role.The highlight was crossing over the Bridge of Sighs, purportedly named such by the sighs of the prisoners being taken to the prison cells, after taking their last view of freedom through the windows of the bridge. From there the stairs lead down to the prison cells, which were surprisingly good considering the era. The Doge, however, was renowed for his harsh sentencing and torture, unless of course one had the money to buy their freedom. We finally reached the Great Council Chamber, which is 53 metres long and 25 metres wide, making it not only the largest chamber in the Doge’s Palace, but also one of the largest rooms in Europe.



After ticking the Doge’s Palace off our list, we headed next door to the awe inspiring St Mark’s Basilica. The line up to enter the Basilica snaked out into St Mark’s Square, however, it was moving quickly, so we joined the line. We only ended up waiting around ten minutes, and we were in the door. The Basilica was originally the chapel of the Doge, and has only been the city's cathedral since 1807. For its opulent design, gold ground mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power, from the 11th century on the building has been known by the nickname Chiesa d'Oro (Church of Gold). The interior of the Basilica is stunning, and it’s nickname is well deserved.



After exiting St Mark’s Basilica, we decided to take a wander through Venice, across some of the 438 bridges that cross the city’s canals. We started our walk at San Marco and stumbled upon the Museum of Music in St Maurizio Church. Although housed in a church, it is in fact a small museum dedicated to violin making, an art for which Venice was famous for centuries. The collections includes mainly strings, violins and cellos, but also has harps, mandolins and harpsichords, some of which date back hundreds of years.



From the music museum, we made our way to La Scuola Grande Di San Rocco, which is renowned for containing over sixty paintings of Tintoretto, with episodes from the Old and New Testaments. Tintoretto worked for over twenty years on the paintings in San Rocco. He was born Jacopo Robusti in Venice in 1519, and became known as Tintoretto after his father’s occupation as a Dyer. Tintoretto means “little dyer”. Mirrors were provided to walk around with, so that one could clearly see the massive paintings on the high ceilings of San Rocco without straining the neck. It was interesting to walk around and to try and decipher the biblical theme of each masterful painting. There were also highly detailed wood carvings around the walls of the room. One of the interesting carvings was of a bookcase full of books.



The Scuole of Venice who still own and manage San Rocco certainly have an interesting history, dating back to the 13^th century. Tintoretto himself was a member of the Scuole. They originally met in the name of Christ, the Virgin Mary or a Patron Saint, for religious worship or mutual aid purposes, and their members came from the middle classes. Today the brotherhood is still active, and continues it’s charitable works as well as looking after it’s artistic heritage.



After leaving San Rocco feeling in awe of the artistic skills of Tintoretto, we headed back to our apartment, to get ready for our dinner at Paradiso Perduto (Paradise Lost), and our Walking Guide’s top restaurant recommendation. The painting of Paradise Lost is one of the art treasures of the Doge's Palace, for which Tintoretto won a competition against his peers to paint. It may be ironical that Paradise Lost could actually be Venice within fifty years.

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