Square · Italy · Still standing

Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco is the principal public square of Venice, forming the ceremonial and social heart of the city together with the adjoining Piazzetta. The square is bordered by St Mark's Basilica and its campanile to the east, the Procuratie arcades to north and south, and the Doge's Palace and Biblioteca Marciana around the Piazzetta to the southeast.

Recreate Square to Explore →

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

First raised

AD 900

Its prime

1810

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 1810

What Piazza San Marco looked like in its prime.

A broad trapezoidal paved forecourt of grey trachyte 'masegni' slabs with white marble banding, flanked by continuous three-storey arcades (Procuratie) with repetitive arches and columns. At the eastern end stands St Mark's Basilica: a polychrome marble façade with five arched portals, mosaics and onion-like domes behind it. To the right rises the tall red-brick campanile capped by a green pyramidal spire and beside it the low white-stone Loggetta; to the southeast the Gothic pink-and-white Doge's Palace and two tall granite columns mark the Piazzetta.

Step inside

12 places to explore in 1810.

The record describes 12 distinct spots at Piazza San Marco, including 2 interiors: st mark's — central nave under the domes, ala napoleonica — ceremonial staircase (museo correr entrance). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Central west-to-east approach across the piazzaSt Mark's Basilica — western façadeSt Mark's — central nave under the domesSt Mark's Campanile and LoggettaProcuratie Vecchie — north arcade and shopsProcuratie Nuove — south arcade and Caffè FlorianAla Napoleonica — ceremonial staircase (Museo Correr entrance)Torre dell'Orologio and Merceria archwayPiazzetta — Columns of San Marco and San Todaro and MoloDoge's Palace — Porta della Carta and adjacent Gothic loggiaPiazzetta dei Leoncini (north-east of the basilica)Libreria Marciana — Sansovino façade facing the Piazzetta

Build Your Own Castle