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The Procuratie Nuove runs along the
west side of the square and includes the Libreria di San Marco,
which was designed by Jacopo Sansovino at the request of the Venetian
Republic to house the codicils donated to it by Cardinal Bessarione.
The clocktower is at the start of the Merceria, the road that leads
from Saint Mark's Square to the Campo di San Barolomeo.
 The
name 'Merceria' refers to the many shops on both sides of it. It still
today the place to buy the finest local and international products.
Piazza San Marco is as unique as its name: indeed it is the only “Piazza”
in Venice as the others are campi. In those far off days when the
Veneti people chose this land as the seat of their Government, at
the beginning of the 9th century, and built their Ducal castle and
later their Basilica, the piazza was much smaller, squeezed more or
less between the facade of the church and a canal, now filled in,
called the rio Batario. In time, about the end of the 12th century,
the church of St. Mark’s was enlarged, the Ducal Palace was turned
into a "palacio" and the political and commercial power
of Venice had become much stronger and more stable.
Thus little by little the Piazza came to be what it was when Gentile
Bellini drew it in his famous painting of the Procession of the
Cross, at the end of the 15th century. The Piazza put in order
in this way, with herring-bone brick pavement until 1264, later with
the modern type of Euganean trachyte with white stripes, which was
used for the first time in 1723, from a design by Andrea Tirali, it
becomes the most suitable place for fetes, cavalcades and ceremonies.
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| Paola - Guide
editor |
I suggest you after the visit of St. Mark’s square you are very
close to the Salute, which is a great point to start the visit of
the Dorsoduro district. If you take this opportunity, take the waterbus
No. 1 from S. Marco and get off after one stop at Salute and in front
of you appears in all its majesty the Salute Church. For a wonderful
sightseeing of the lagoon and of St. Mark’s Square turn left
and keep going until the fondamenta ends. Here you’ll find both
the Punta della Dogana della Serenissima (Custom’s Point) and
a breath taking view with the Piazza on your left, San Giorgio Island
in front of you and the Giudecca on your right, from where you can
realise why this city is called the Queen of the Sea. |
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Venice.
Saint Mark's Square is trapezoidal, and the Procuratie vecchie
and Procuratie Nuove run along the two extensive sides. They are
known as old ('vecchie') and new ('nuove') on the basis of the age
of the buildings over the arcades of the ground-level porticoes.
The Procuratie Vecchie runs along the north side of the square from
the Clocktower and have kept their Reinassance features.
They are followed by Ala Napoleonica ('Napoleonic Wing'). This was
built in 1810 by the architect Giuseppe Soli on the site of the
demolished San Geminiano church, which was built by Sansovino. 
