Piazza San Marco, Venice

Piazza San Marco is Venice’s principal public square, extending into the adjoining Piazzetta beside the lagoon. Together, these spaces have long served as the city’s social, religious, and political heart. The eastern end is dominated by St Mark’s Basilica, whose marble façade carries arches, carvings, mosaics, and the famous four horses above the central entrance.

In 1379, Genoa declared that peace with Venice could not return until those horses had been bridled; after conquering Venice, Napoleon removed them and sent them to Paris. The tall Campanile of St Mark rises near the square. Its earlier structure was completed from 1156 to 1173, restored in 1514, and rebuilt in 1912 after the previous tower collapsed on 14 July 1902.

Along the square, the Procuratie provide a continuous arcade of shops and cafés. The Ala Napoleonica closes the western end and now contains the Museo Correr. At the Piazzetta, the Biblioteca Marciana forms an ornate arcade beside the Doge’s Palace.

Two granite columns mark the lagoon entrance: one bears Saint Theodore with a crocodile, and the other carries the winged Lion of Saint Mark. Between them, public executions took place, while gambling was permitted there as well.