Inside the Doge's Palace: rooms and paintings

The route in order

• Museo dell'Opera: where the visit begins.
• The courtyard, then the Loggia on the first floor, where the Doge's Apartments are.
• The institutional chambers on the first and second floors.
• The Armoury and the Picture Gallery.
• The prisons, across the Bridge of Sighs.

The Chamber of the Great Council

The largest and grandest room in the palace, and according to MUVE one of the largest in Europe. The wall behind the Doge's throne is filled by the Paradise, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto and his workshop between 1588 and 1592, one of the longest canvases in the world. Wikipedia gives its size as 24.51 × 7.65 metres.

The council chambers

The route continues through the institutional chambers on the first and second floors, the rooms of the Republic's councils, such as the Senate Chamber.

The rooms of the State Inquisitors, set up in 1539, have a ceiling with canvases by Tintoretto; they are seen on the Secret Itineraries tour, not on the standard route.

The Armoury and the Picture Gallery

Towards the end of the route come the Armoury, with armour and weapons, and the Picture Gallery, with masterpieces by Giovanni Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian and Giambattista Tiepolo.

Veronese's Rape of Europa and Jacopo Bassano's Jacob's Return to Canaan are being restored and have been replaced by copies; the restoration can be watched in the Liagò Room.

Not on the standard route

• The Secret Itineraries: the chancellery, the torture chamber and the Piombi prisons, with a guide (about 75 minutes). Details.
• The Doge's Hidden Treasures: the Treasure Chamber, Titian's St Christopher and the Doge's chapel. Details.