As much time as I have spent in Italy, and as many times as I have been in Venice, it was not until last week that I finally entered the truly astounding Doge’s Palace. It is so overwhelming to visit that I’m going to break these photos into many groups.

Below: the first few pictures are of the lovely loggia on the ground floor of the exterior of the palazzo. If you’ve been to Venice, you’ve seen this loggia.

Once you have purchased your ticket for 25 Euro, you are allowed to enter this inner courtyard which, if you didn’t know better, looks like the exterior loggia! It is every bit as ornate.

With the next photo, I have entered the palazzo and climbed the stairs to the piano nobile (2nd floor to Americans). The light was all wrong for the photo below, but the view is the Venetian lagoon. It is breathtaking!

Below: looking down at the inner courtyard from the piano nobile.