The Doge’s Palace (Italian: Palazzo Ducale) is a vast, ornate Gothic‑style palace on the south‑east side of St Mark’s Square in Venice, traditionally the seat of power and residence of the Doge, the elected head of the Republic of Venice.  It now functions as a museum and one of Venice’s most iconic landmarks.
Watercolour of one of Venice finest. The palace combined three main functions: the Doge’s private residence, the meeting chambers of the Venetian Senate and Great Council, and part of the state’s judicial and bureaucratic apparatus.  It also housed prisons and the infamous Bridge of Sighs, which connected the main palace to the “New Prisons” across a small canal.
 
Interesting facts...
Narrow corridors and concealed staircases once let officials move between the Council of Ten, the inquisitors, and the Doge’s apartments without being seen, preserving the illusion of public openness while real decisions were made in private.