The Doge's Palace: A Thousand Years of Self-Rule

Seat of the Venetian Republic for 700+ years. Gothic masterpiece, political monument, and prison — the Bridge of Sighs connects the palace to the cells, and the "sigh" was the last view of Venice a condemned prisoner would see. The Republic lasted 697 to 1797, over a thousand years of continuous self-rule, the most stable state in European history.

Tintoretto's Paradise in the Great Council Chamber — largest oil painting in the world at creation, 500 figures, needs twenty minutes to absorb. The Council of Ten rooms (Venice's secret police) are smaller, more menacing, ceilings by Veronese with elegance that makes the surveillance state look civilized. Venice was never just beautiful. It was powerful, cunning, and organized.