Venice is extraordinary and one of its most stunning assets is Piazza San Marco. A massive square which contains the Campanile, St. Mark’s Basilica, and lots of pigeons.
Filled with tourists, this place can seem overwhelming but there is so much beauty and awe-inspiring architecture in this small area that it truly can blow your mind.
First and foremost is the Campanile, which at my new home at UC Berkeley lies a close cousin of this monumental tower. The dazzling brick monolith stands high above all else in Venice and stands as a musical guardian over the city.
We waited in quite a line to get into the tower and then crammed in a stylish elevator for a ride up to the highest point in the city. The view was in no way disappointing.
It seems like the whole city is within your grasp. Huge expanses of red roofs, rising cathedral of church towers and twisting streets gripping the sides of dark waterways. There really is nothing like it. Looking over the giant square that is the piazza and turning every which way and seeing red roofs for what feels like miles.
In the Piazza itself was an amusing spectacle. Hundreds of pigeons filling the square where people where feeding them and letting them crawl all over them. It was extremely entertaining to watch but I would never let those gross rats with wings touch me. More photos of this will be seen later.
The Basilica was beyond words. This overly ornate structure is a house of gods built by thieves. A strange concept to build a holy structure entirely constructed of goods that were stolen from other places like Constantinople or any of the other numerous Venetian neighbors. It amounted to quite a spectacle.
The inside of the church was covered in gold and the most amazing feats of architecture. It is a strange concept though, if not an hypocritical one to build a church out of stolen goods. Whether the grounds of which this place was constructed is correct or not, it still amounted to an intricate and stunning structure that is nearly indescribable.
The Piazza San Marco was an amazing and awe inspiring place, it is still hard to believe that the Venetians were able to squeeze that much beauty into a small square.