Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Venice, Day 2: Doge's Palace Part 2

Doge’s Palace displays the glorious history of Venice.

The Armory Rooms showcase suits of armor and weapons. It's hard to believe they used to wear those heavy armors to fight.

Venetian glass windows are made with bottle ends. They reflect water and light beautifully.

The weapons are quite ancient.

The antique weapons look like arts and crafts, compared to guns people use today.

This thing is funny. It’s called chastity belt. It is a device designed to prevent women having sex. Just imagine the horror of wearing this uncomfortable garment.

The room is massive and golden.

Check out the close-up.

There are portraits of Doges on the wall. The black shape is where they masked a failed Doge who received death penalty for treachery.

Peeking through the window of Bridge of Sighs from one side, you see more bridges. Those are open-air bridges unlike Bridge of Sighs.

The prison is cold and depressing.

Bridge of Sighs takes you to the prison where criminals used to be held.

The window on the other side of Bridge of Sighs has the view of the Grand Canal. You can see tourists are all facing this way to take pictures of the bridge.

The above photo is the hallway in the courtyard.

You can see St. Mark Basilica from the courtyard.

Outside the Doge’s Palace, you can see two columns. One of them is crowned with the winged lion, the Lion of St. Mark. The other one is topped with St. Theodore, the first Patron Saint of Venice. They used to execute people between these two columns. Rumor says it brings you bad luck if you stand between the two columns. I have not yet seen any travel show presenter or the locals walking between the columns on TV. During my stay in Venice, I made sure I was not in between them. I always giggled when I saw tourists stood between them. They didn’t do their homework.

This is the exterior of Bridge of Sighs. The iconic bridge takes you from the palace on the left to the prison on the right.

The pink-laced Doge’s Palace built in Venetian Gothic style is an iconic landmark and museum today.

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