Castles · Tour

From the Pozzi to the Piombi: the Prisons at Both Ends of the Palace

The Secret Itinerary through the Doge's Palace, which is the route through the working side of the building rather than the ceremonial one, with the queue skipped. It starts in the courtyard and goes down to the Pozzi, the wells, where the conditions were as bad as the name suggests. Then the administrative rooms: the Ducal Notary's office, the Hall of the Secret Chancellery, and the Torture Room, which sat in the same building and often served the same process. The route ends in the Piombi, the leads, the cells built directly under the roof of the palace. Two prisons, one at the bottom and one at the top, with the government of Venice in between.