doge's palace
doge's palace
Palazzo Ducale
Doge's palace tickets
Just walking past the Doge’s Palace on St. Mark’s Square, it is easy to see why it is one of Venice’s top attractions. Inside the building, it becomes clear just how powerful Venice’s government once was.
Discover the splendour of the Doges, the interior of the Bridge of Sighs and the harsh reality of the dungeons.
Opening hours:
1 April – 31 October:
9.00 – 19.00 h
1 November – 31 March:
9.00 – 18.00 h
Find all offers at a glance here.
The Doge’s Palace raised its entrance fees by a whole EUR 5 in 2026… Phew…
My Rating:
The Positives:
The Doge's Palace is diverse in terms of its size and history: the prison cells in the basement are eerie, the huge halls are impressive and the view of the sea is breathtaking.
The negatives:
The entrance area can be confusing. The EUR 30 admission fee is quite steep.
Tip:
Be sure to visit with an audio guide or guided tour to understand all the history!
Last Modified: 20.04.2026 | Céline & Susi
Doge's palace
tickets
| Online Tickets | Prices | Information | Buy Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Online Ticket |
EUR 35 | Purchase via Tiqets in English and much easier! Skip the line + includes 3 additional museums. | Buy Ticket |
|
Guided Tour Short |
EUR 65 |
1-hour guided tour in EN/DE/FR/IT/ES, skip the line, access to other museums, as with the standard ticket. EN: Daily |
Book Tour |
|
Online Ticket |
EUR 35 |
Purchase via GetYourGuide (children's tickets are EUR 1 cheaper), in English and much less complicated than on the official website. Skip the line + includes 3 additional museums Buy ticket |
Buy Ticket |
|
Venice Pass from |
EUR 89 |
Various ticket options are available for St. Mark's Basilica OR St. Marks Campanile + the Doge's Palace + CHOOSE BETWEEN a 30-minute gondola ride + OR a boat tour to Murano/Burano + an audio guide for the city. |
Buy Ticket |
|
San Marco City Pass from |
EUR 44 | Admission to the Doge's Palace, the three museums in St. Mark's Square, the three churches of the Chorus Association and the Querini Stampalia Foundation. Price does not include local transport. | Buy Ticket |
|
Guided Tour long |
EUR 72 |
3-hour guided Doge Palace + St. Marks and more! tour in EN, skip the line, access to other museums, as with the standard ticket. EN: Daily |
Book Tour |
|
Museums Pass |
EUR 63 | Admission to the Doge's Palace and 10 other city museums such as the Glass Museum, Lace Museum, Ca'Pesaro + admission to 16 churches, local transport can be added | Buy Ticket |
The details
at a glance
Prices
EUR 30 for persons aged 15 and over
EUR 15 for children aged 6 to 14, senior citizens over 65, students aged 15 to 25
Free admission for children under 6
Early bird: book 30 days in advance for EUR 25 + EUR 1 fee (official page)
Museum pass for EUR 40 (Doge’s Palace + 10 other museums)
also available from GYG, who add the church pass (EUR 16) for EUR 53!
Doge's Palace
Photo Gallery
What is there
to see?
Before entering the Palazzo Ducale, the former residence of the Venetian ruler (the Doge), you will surely be amazed by the sight of the façade, the columns and the arcades: a red and white diamond pattern decorates the wall surface, which is interrupted by the beautiful columned loggia and windows. Due to its size and structure, the Doge’s Palace takes up a lot of space and commands attention in a stately manner (‘Nomen est Omen’). (The best view of the palace is definitely from the water!)
After ticket inspection and security checks, visitors enter directly into the palace courtyard, which offers a special view of St. Mark’s Basilica. In front of it stands an inconspicuous fountain from the 16th century, and to its right are the ‘Stairs of the Giants’ Mars and Neptune, which are said to symbolise Venice’s power on land and at sea. From here, you can now also see the Porta della Carta – the Gate of Paper. It is a passageway from the palace courtyard to St. Mark’s Basilica. It was built between 1438 and 1442 and is another work by the Venetian architect Bartolomeo Bon, who also designed the Ca d’Oro and various other church portals in Venice. Doge Francesco Foscari can be seen kneeling in front of the winged lion of St. Mark on this portal. This was to make it clear to him and all subsequent doges that although they held secular power, they were ultimately only servants of the republic. The republic is embodied by the lion of St. Mark.
The interior of the palace
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Video: 1 minute in the Doge's Palace
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A bit of history
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What is a Doge?
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Doge's Palace tickets
find out more
Doge's Palace Interior
Splendour and Glory
From here on, things get pompous! On the first floor, on the lagoon side (i.e. to the south), is the ‘Appartamento del Doge’, the Doge’s living quarters. The word ‘magnificent’ is probably the most accurate way to describe them: stucco at the entrances, gold decorations on the ceiling and impressive works of art on the walls. The power of the rulers is palpable in the interior design alone.
The ‘golden staircase’ (gilded stucco work by Alessandro Vittoria) leads to the second floor, where the ‘Sala dei Maggior Consiglio’ (Hall of the Great Council), the ‘Sala del Senato’ (Hall of the Senate) and the armoury are located, among other things. You could easily spend hours in these rooms admiring the detailed paintings on the walls and ceilings or the collection of weapons. Even if you don’t have that much time, it is impressive enough just to walk through the halls. Not only do the large windows allow plenty of sunlight into the rooms, but the view of the water is also calming and truly beautiful.
However, what you should take a little longer to look at in the Great Council Chamber is the world’s longest canvas painting: ‘Il Paradiso’ by Jacopo Tintoretto (1588-1592). It is located at one end, behind the Doge’s throne. This work was not always here, however – it is ‘only’ a replacement for a fresco by Guariento, which was unfortunately damaged in a fire. But admittedly, it is an extremely worthy replacement! Measuring 22 metres in length and 9 metres in height, it depicts a heavenly scene with countless religious figures: there are a total of 500 figures depicted in detail!
In the glorious centre we find Mary and Jesus. She intercedes with Jesus – for all of us, or for the people who were brought before the Doge. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, hovers between them and the Archangel Gabriel holds out a lily to Mary. Jesus is bathed in divine light and is depicted as a judge holding a globe in his hand. Next to him stands the Archangel Michael with scales in his hand. Below the main scene are the evangelists, between whom appears another archangel, also brightly illuminated like Jesus and Mary.
The circular route leads down to the Bridge of Sighs, which takes you to the small, dark prison cells. It is a strange feeling to have been walking through princely government and court rooms just a few minutes earlier and then to find yourself standing in the cool prison. And it is incredible how many cells there are here! When you imagine that these rooms were not empty, but housed criminals, it sends a chill down your spine. We don’t even want to think about the smell or noise level. 😉
All in all, the Doge’s Palace is impressive and a must-see for anyone interested in the history of Venice!
1 minute
in the Doge's Palace
Want a little sneak peek?
We’ll take you on a quick tour of the Doge’s Palace!
There’s so much to see here, and we don’t want to give too much away – so you’ll have to make do with this short video and then come and discover, marvel and explore for yourself. 😀
Yours, Céline
The Doge's Palace
A bit of History
It is no longer possible to determine where the very first Doge’s Palace stood. However, the second palace, which we know today, was built around 850. We also do not know what this first version of the palace looked like. During the uprising of 976, this palace fell victim to a fire…
The palace that was subsequently built was commissioned by Doge Sebastiano Ziani (1172–1178). However, it quickly became too small, so this version of the Doge’s Palace had to be extended.
It was Doge Bartolomeo Gradenigo who decided to redesign the palace in 1340. And it was then that it took on its present form. The architect who designed the new south wing on the Bacino is unknown, but the building was completed in 1404. Further renovations and extensions followed. The façade as we know it today dates from 1424 and was modelled on the façade of the new south wing.
In 1438, the Porta della Carta – a representative entrance to the palace courtyard – was created. In the same year, a connection to St. Mark’s Basilica was made to strengthen the bond between the palace and the church.
The Doge resided in the Doge’s Palace, which also housed various offices. The most important of these was undoubtedly the court and its prison, which was located on the ground floor of the palace until the early 17th century. A new prison was then built, which became accessible via the Ponte dei Sospiri – the Bridge of Sighs – from 1614 onwards.
With the founding of the Italian state, the palace became the seat of other institutions. From 1811 to 1904, it even housed the Biblioteca Marciana. Today, it is located opposite, next to the St. Marks Campanile. At the end of the 19th century, the badly dilapidated palace was completely renovated. During this process, 13 columns of the portico were replaced with copies, which can now be seen in the museum rooms. They form the basis of the Museo dell’Opera di Palazzo, which is also housed in the Doge’s Palace today.
Today, all the former offices have been relocated. In 1923, the Doge’s Palace was handed over to the city of Venice for administration. The city opened the palace to the public and it became a museum.
Since 1996, the Doge’s Palace has been part of the Venetian city museums (Musei Civici Veneziani).
What is
a Doge?
A Doge was the head of state of the Republic of Venice. The Doges were princes who ruled Venice for life between the 8th and 18th centuries.
In the beginning, the Doge was ‘only’ a local representative. His superior was the Exarch (administrative district) of Ravenna, who in turn was subordinate to the Byzantine Emperor.
However, when Venice became independent and the Republic of Venice was established, the Doge became the ruler of this new state and remained so until 1797.
Who was allowed to become Doge? Only male princes, of course. But not just any princes. They had to belong to the most important families in Venice – with verified ancestry. Between 1355 and 1722, they had to be at least 30 years old, and after that, at least 40 years old. They had to have the necessary funds and have already demonstrated their abilities in other offices. And: he was elected to office.
Initially, the Doge combined military, civil and judicial functions in one office. They therefore had unlimited power for life. However, it was not an office that could be inherited. So-called co-Doge, consisting of other family members, were repeatedly prohibited. However, there were exceptions. This was to prevent the formation of a dynasty.
At the beginning of the 9th century, the seat of the Doge became the so-called Doge’s Palace.
In order to somewhat curtail this unlimited power for life, an inquisition was established around 1500. At first, it only wanted to judge the machinations of a deceased doge – inquisitori del doge defunto. However, this control body remained in place. In addition, a ‘Council of Ten’ was appointed, and vice-doge and co-doge were now really prohibited. All this meant that from 1500 onwards, the doge had hardly any power left. The office became purely representative.
Doge's Palace tickets
What do you need to bear in mind?
There are two main ways to get a ticket for the Doge’s Palace.
- Do you understand Italian or are you willing to go the complicated route? Then visit the official website and pay the EUR 30 admission fee.
- If you want to book in English, without any complications, and also pay EUR 30, then use Tiqets or GetYourGuide.
It’s hard to believe, but I tried it myself. I went to the German website for the Doge’s Palace, but as soon as you want to book, it’s only possible in a mixture of Italian and English. While some of the text is translated, the most important fields are unfortunately not. It’s complicated because you have to choose two times (Ducale and Museo Correr, because they’re included in the price). And if you don’t know that, you have to enter your personal information twice. Payment options are: credit card OR Satispay – an Italian mobile payment method.
The price for adults is EUR 35, as you can see here.
Ragazzi individuali da 6 a 14 anni – pay EUR 16 here.
Bambini da 0 a 5 anni – are free.
However, if you make your purchase through Tiqets or GetYourGuide, you also pay EUR 35 for ages 15 and up.
At Tiqets, young people also pay EUR 16,
but at GetYourGuide, they only pay EUR 15 – a glitch in the system? Well, we save a Euro that way. 😉
Both GYG and Tiqets also include admission to the Museo Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana National Library – no need to book an extra time slot here.
And: with the online ticket, you get a skip-the-line ticket! And all in the language you need!
So why not choose the easier option!
You can also book a digital audio guide (EUR 5) through Tiqets. We don’t know if it’s any good, though. There’s also one available on site.
Our recommendations: book a guided tour to soak up all the important information about the palace, don’t miss any anecdotes and don’t overlook anything!
Short Tour for EUR 58 OR Long Tour for EUR 72.
Official website of the Doge’s Palace: palazzoducale.visitmuve.it
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2023–2026
With the support of Susanne Vukan.
With the permission of the Doge’s Palace.
