St Marks Square

This is the heart of must see Venice. St Marks Square or Piazza San Marco as it is known in Italian has been the centre point of Venetian life for close on a thousand years...

If you can find a Venetian in the piazza they will gladly tell you that this is the most beautiful piazza in the entire world and they aren’t far wrong. It is also strangely enough the only piazza in Venice – all the others are called campi.

The square dates back to 828 but it was in the twelfth century that the square became recognizably the square of today. Thanks to the fall of Constantinople marble suddenly became available on a massive scale and the rulers of Venice went absolutely crazy with it.

It is great that they did, the result is an immensely beautiful space full of light and colour. Even at the height of summer I manage to ignore the tourists and transport myself back in time. It is actually easy to do, the scale of this piazza makes the tourists seem quite insignificant.

Changes were made over the following centuries with the addition of various buildings, new paving and statues but the enchanting nature of the Piazza has never been lost.

Don’t buy anything to eat or drink anywhere near here. Even a beer is likely to cost you close on ten Euros. Rather visit in the late evening or early morning when the crowds are often less and go to one of the places in our Venice Italy Restaurant Guide for lunch or dinner.

If you would like to avoid the long lines getting in to any of the buildings on the piazza a good idea is a tours. These are some tours of Venice I can recommend.


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