Doge's Palace - Secret Itineraries

Overview

Not accessible with the standard ticket, these tours take the visitor into the most secret and fascinating rooms in the Palace. The ticket includes the guided tour to the itineraries and also access (without a guide) to the rest of the Doge's Palace

Tour details

Ticket must be picked up at Doge's Palace

This reservation is made through an agency authorized by Teleart, official licensee of Venice Museums.

Reservations must be made with a minimum of 1 day notice.
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PLEASE NOTICE: Confirmed time is not always the same time you requested; museum automatically confirms the closest available time on the same date if requested time is sold out. Tickets will be confirmed upon availability of museum.

Tours are all with a specialised guide, for a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 25; they start at fixed times according to the following schedule:

Italian 9.30; 11.10
English: 9.55 10.45; 11.35
French 10.20; 12.00

Visit at 10:45 is not available on August.

Cancellation Policy:
For cancellations once a confirmation code has been assigned to the reservation, up to 2 days before the date of the visit, we can refund cost of unused tickets minus service fee (reservation fee and online booking fee). For further cancellations and no shows, no refund is possible.

Details

The itinerary begins from the rooms of the Notaio Ducale, that worked as secretary for several magistratures of the Republic, and those of the Deputato alla Segreta del Consiglio dei Diceci, that took care of private archives. Rooms are comunicating and can be reached from the Atrio Quadrato. From here, the Ofice of the Cancellier Grande is reached; this was the only magistrate of the Republic directly elected by the Maggior Consiglio, and he was the head of what now is the General Archives.

From this room, a stair leads to the beautiful room of the Cancelleria Segreta, which walls were entirely covered by cupboards that kept the public deeds and secret contracts of most of the Venice magistratures. The highest doors, covered by mirrors, are decorated by coats of arms and names of chancellors from 1268.

Through the room of the Reggente alla Cancelleria is accessed the Torture Room, directly linked to the prisons. From here, one enters the Piombi zone. The name comes from the lead coverage of the roof. Here were set up some cells for prisoners of Consiglio dei Dieci, mostly for political reasons, short sentences, not serious crimes or prisoners waiting for trial. The six or seven cells were set up dividing the space by wood partitions, nailed down and strengthened by big iron sheets. The Piombi, as described by Giacomo Casanova, one of the famous prisoners of the palace, offered much better conditions than Pozzi, the terrible cells located in the ground floor. The two cells that once hosted Casanova have been reconstructed and now are part of the visit trail.

From the Piombi, can be visited the "sottotetto", located at Ponte della Paglia, in the corner between the Bacino di San Marco and Rio di Palazzo, where in ancient times was located one of the towers of the old castle of the Doge. In the cupboards are shown arms, mostly from the 14th Century.

From the "sottotetto", going down two stairs, is accessed the Sala degli Inquisitori. This scaring magistrature, named Inquisitori alla Propagazione dei Segreti dello Stato, created on 1539 to protect the reserve of the acts of the State, was formed by three members, that should guarantee objectiveness, competence and efficiency, besides absolute secret of their activities and the facts they discovered. They could use any method for their investigations, even torture. The ceiling of the room is decorated by works of Tintoretto (1566-1567).

From here is entered the Sala dei Tre Capi, magistrates elected each month among the ten members of Consiglio dei Dieci, for the preparation of the trials and the effects of the Council resolutions in the briefest time. Decoration of the ceiling was made between 1553 and 1554 by Giambattista Zelotti, and the lateral compartments are due to Veronese and Giambattista Ponchino.

From this room, through a secret passage in a wooden built-in cupboard, is accessed the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci.

Prices

Tickets:

Full price

Reduced price:
children E.U. and extra E.U. aged 6 to 14; escorts (max. 2) for groups of children; students* E.U. and extra E.U. aged 15 to 29; escorts (max. 2) for groups of children or students; E.U. citizens and extra E.U. over 65; staff of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali; holders of the "Rolling Venice Card"; holders of the Venice Card Orange; Venetian residents; I.C.O.M. members; For those buying the combined ticket to the Museums of St. Mark’s Square; holders of the Museum Pass issued by the Musei Civici Veneziani.

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