The best piazza in Venice
Piazza San Marco
Today I learned that this is the only piazza in Venice — all other urban spaces in the city are called campi or “fields,” except for the Piazzetta, which extends from the Piazza to the San Marco basin, and the Piazzale Roma. Together, the Piazza and Piazzetta di San Marco, form the social, religious, and political center of Venice.
The Piazza is flanked by numerous monuments, including the Basilica and Campanile di San Marco, the Torre dell’Orologio, the Procuratie Nuove and Vecchie, and the Palazzo Ducale.
The piazza is also one of the first places to flood whenever there is acqua alta, or “high water,” which refers to a high tide after heavy rain or storm surges from the Adriatic. The 1966 Venice flood was particularly severe, after high tides, sirocco wind, and heavy rain came together to have Venetians walking around with water up to their shoulders and isolated from other cities for 24 hours.
Gold Colored Fox 