Venezia | The Long History of Venice’s Most Iconic Square

So we’ve talked about the Campanile and the Basilica. But there’s one thing that we haven’t discussed that literally ties it all together. La Piazza.

The Piazza San Marco, or the Square of Saint Mark, is the most important spot in all of Venice. It is referred to as the political and religious center of the city.

The piazza is a backward L shaped, concrete square just north of the palace of the Doge. The larger portion, which stretches north from Saint Mark’s Basilica, is what is actually called La Piazza. The part that connects the square to the coast, stretching away from the west side of the basilica, is called La Piazzetta (translated to little square).

Originally, the Piazzetta was not concrete. It was a dock, and the campanile served as its lighthouse. The piazza was originally grass, not concrete, and there were many streams running along the sides of the contemporary buildings.

During Medieval times, the piazza began to look more like the one that stands today. It was expanded and decorated. The columns with the Lion of Venice and St. Theodore were placed in the Piazzetta.

During the Renaissance period, the clock tower was created to the east of the basilica, but we will discuss the history of that next week.

Today, the pavement is the same that was restored in 1890. This restoration tried to be as close to the same as it could to the pavement designs that were placed in 1723. Since Venice is such a flood hazard town, the piazza was created, in 1723, with flood prevention measurements including a lift for drainage systems to be placed in the pavement.

This system is not foolproof, however, because it is still possible, and during high tide and rainy seasons almost inevitable, that the town of Venice flood, and the poor piazza is no different than the rest of the town.