It consists of three large building blocks that have incorporated and unified previous constructions: the wing facing 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 Piazza (formerly the Palace of Justice) with the Hall of Scrutiny, whose construction in the current form 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 Palazzo Ducale is the Porta del Frumento (so called because next to it was the “Office of the Grains”) which opens under the portico of the 14th-century facade facing the Bacino San Marco. On the ground floor are public services and the Opera Museum; the area of the ancient Doge’s kitchens, which today also houses the café, is equipped to host temporary exhibitions.
The path to the upper rooms of the palace first passes through the extraordinary courtyard, and continues with the Piano delle Logge and with the visit to the precious rooms of the Ducal Apartment on the first floor, and the Institutional Rooms which develop between the second floor and the Piano delle Logge, finally concluding with a visit to the Armory and the Prisons.
These are the itineraries proposed by the Museum, which do not strictly follow the individual floors of the palace, but outline an internal path that goes up and down across 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 can be visited only under special conditions.
