My favourite place in Venice has to be the St Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco), and a major reason for the draw is the stunning architecture that surrounds it. One of the famous and beautiful buildings – and a major tourist attraction for that reason – is the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale).

A superb example of Venetian Gothic architecture and dating back to the 14th century, the palace dominates the square and, to the other side, the Grand Canal – and from it springs the famous Bridge of Sighs (see my post on the bridge). Today it is a museum, visited by some one million tourists each year who come as much to admire the beauty of the building itself as the exhibitions housed within. But for centuries its raison d’être was as the residence of the Doge of the day.

But who exactly was the Doge?

The Doge was, quite simply, the head of the Venetian Republic. (The Republic was a state that existed from the 7th century to 1797; it was known as La Serenissima, the ‘Most Serene Republics’). The word ‘Doge’ comes from the Latin word ‘dux’, which means military leader, but the traditional English translation for the title is ‘Duke’. The Duke was the supreme authority of the Republic, and Doges ruled over Venice for more than a thousand years.

The title ‘Duke’ is perhaps misleading. The Doge was not a position passed down as hereditary – he was elected; but, like a Duke, his was a job for life. He was in charge of more than military matters – he was the civil and ecclesiastical leader in addition. As the head of all, he was most revered in his role; his titles ranged from ‘My Lord the Doge to ‘His Serenity’. Over time, though, the role became more ceremonial than powerful, and eventually the position was cancelled – the last Doge, Ludovico Manin, abdicated when Napoleon conquered the city.

I have written already on this blog of the famous Venice annual regatta, at the head of whose procession is the Bucintoro, the state galley of the Doges of Venice. This was traditionally used in the Marriage of the Sea ceremony. Each year, on the Festa della Sensa (Ascension Day), officials would travel in the Bucintoro out to San Nicolò on the Lido, where the patriarch of Venice would bless a golden ring and then pass it to the Doge to throw a ring into the Adriatic, to symbolically wed Venice to the sea. The ceremony still exists to this day, but without the Doge.

Here’s a short video about the modern Marriage of the Sea ceremony: