It consists of three large building blocks that have incorporated and unified previous constructions: the wing towards the Bacino di San Marco (which contains the Hall of the Great Council) and is the oldest, rebuilt starting from 1340; the wing facing the Square (formerly the Palace of Justice) with the Hall of Scrutiny, whose construction in its current forms began in 1424; On the opposite side, the Renaissance wing, with the Doge’s residence and many government offices, rebuilt between 1483 and 1565.
The public entrance to Doge’s Palace is the Porta del Frumento (named because the “Grain Office” was located next to it), which opens under the portico of the 14th-century facade overlooking the Bacino San Marco. On the ground floor are the public services and the Opera Museum; the area of the Doge’s ancient kitchens, which today also houses the coffee shop, is equipped to host temporary exhibitions.
The route to the upper rooms of the palace first passes through the extraordinary courtyard, then continues with the Loggias Floor and with the visit to the precious rooms of the Ducal Apartment on the first floor, and the Institutional Rooms that develop between the second floor and the Loggias floor, concluding finally with the visit to the Armory and the Prisons.
These are the routes proposed by the Museum, which do not follow the individual floors of the palace linearly, but outline a path inside that goes up and down, crossing them several times. The numbering of the rooms indicated here follows the same order. Then there are the Secret Itineraries, which are not part of the normal route of the Palace but are visitable only under special conditions.
