Stand in
The Square at Low Sun
Napoleon's description, and he was not wrong - though it floods often enough that the tables come with duckboards.
Explore the SquareNearby—More from this destination.
This 360° panorama was captured in Piazza San Marco in Venice, between the Campanile and the basilica, with the sun low across the square.
The camera stands out on the paving in the middle of the square with the sun low enough to throw everybody’s shadow the full length of the stone. At one end is the basilica, and a panorama is the only fair way to show it: five deep arched portals across the front, gold mosaics in the lunettes over each one, the four bronze horses on the balcony above the centre, and a whole upper storey of ogee gables and pinnacles that a straight-on photograph flattens into pattern. The pink and white diamond brickwork of the Doge’s Palace runs off to the right of it. Turn the other way and the plain brick shaft of the Campanile goes up past the top of the frame with the Biblioteca beside it. Everything in between is arcade - the Procuratie, two long ranges of identical arches down both sides, which is what makes the square read as a room. Pigeons on the ground in every direction.
Piazza San Marco has been a destination for locals and visitors for more than a millennium. One of the world's top urban public spaces, the piazza stands atop the list with New York City's Times Square, Boston Common, and Trafalgar Square in London. Called Saint Mark's Square in English, the piazza is the center of life in Venice, lined by some of the best Renaissance architecture standing today. It's also an open-air museum of great sculpture, with each bronze and carved marble work of art telling a story.
Today, Venice is the capital of the Veneto region in northern Italy. But for 1,000 years, it stood as the capital of the Republic of Venice. One of the centers of the Renaissance, the city long has been a hotbed of the arts, of creativity, and of forward thinking. Called the Queen of the Adriatic and the City of Canals, Venice long has been proud of its main square.
The beginnings of the square dates more than 1,200 years in the past when a temple was built for Saint Theodore, the city's first patron saint. When relics from Saint Mark arrived in Venice around 828 C.E., the city adopted the apostle as their new patron saint. The first church dedicated to Saint Mark was built by 836. From there, the small church with a grass lawn grew into the important public space. History marched on-as new buildings were erected and new sculptures installed, Venice witnessed the Black Death, Crusades, the arrival of Renaissance, Napoleon's victory, and the changing political fortunes. As history changed around Venice, people still came to Piazza San Marco to worship, meet, shop, dine, and connect with culture.
Today's visitors should make sure to bring a camera along with them because there's so much to see. The dominate feature of the square, to the east, is the mighty Saint Mark's Basilica, close to the Palazzo Patricale, the home of the Patriarch of Venice. Many of the Catholic Bishops to hold this position have gone to become Pope, including 20th century popes Pius X, John XXIII, and Pope John Paul I. The plaza also boasts a clock tower, standing since 1499, governmental buildings from the Renaissance, and Caffe Florian, which served its first drinks in 1720.