This Palace was the residence of Doge, the political chief of Venice, and seat of the government of Serenissima Republic, other than the Court of Justice and the prison.

It was built during the XIV century, but it was enlarged and deeply modified several times up to the XVII century. The facades are covered with white and pink marbles, cadenced at the noble floor by a Gothic fretworked loggia of great elegance. In the corners there are some sculptures in alto-relievo.

The entrance is the Porta della Carta (Paper Door, so called maybe with reference to the bureaucracy) that gets into a courtyard with arcades called Foscari, by the name of the Doge who made it. From there starts the famous Scala dei Giganti (Giants' Stairway) which leads to the noble floor, with the statues of Neptune and Mars.

Inside the Palace, on top of the Scala d'Oro (Golden Stairway) by Sansovino, begins the series of halls following each other, among which the Sala delle Quattro Porte (Hall of Four Doors), Sala del Collegio (College Hall) and Sala dell'Anticollegio (Anti-College Hall), Sala del Senato (Senate Hall), Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci (Council of Ten), Sala della Bussola (Compass Hall), and the enormous Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Major Council Hall) which is 1340 square meters and was the seat of the Parliament of Serenissima Republic of Venice. In this hall are nowadays exposed the portraits of all Doges who ruled Venice and the Paradiso (Heaven) by Tintoretto.

Inside the Doge's Palace there were also the prisons: the Pozzi (Wells), the Piombi (Leads) and the Prigioni Nuove (New Prisons). The Pozzi were on the ground floor and were destined to criminals. The Piombi, so called because had leaded ceilings, were a kind of prison less hard for common people, where they could take their personal belongings and in some cases also things about their work.