Caffè Quadri

The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were constructed by the procurators of Saint Mark, the second-highest dignitaries in the government of the Republic of Venice, who were charged with administering the treasury of the Church of Saint Mark as well as the financial affairs of state wards and trust funds established on behalf of religious and charitable institutions. The Procuratie Vecchie on the northern side of the square was built during the War of the League of Cambrai in the early sixteenth century to replace an earlier structure, damaged by fire. Although the war imposed financial constraints and limited innovation, it was nevertheless the first major public building in Venice to be erected in a purely classical style. It always contained apartments that were rented by the procurators as a source of revenue to finance building projects and repairs. Rental income was significant, given the prestige of the location. But the apartments were eventually sold to raise immediate money for the government, and several of them were subsequently transformed into clubhouses. The Procuratie Nuove on the southern side housed the official residences of the procurators. Built between the late-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries to replace a series of dilapidated medieval structures, it represented the culmination of an extensive programme of urban renewal that lasted over a hundred years and profoundly transformed Venice's city centre, giving it the appearance of a great classical forum. Both the official residences in the Procuratie Nuove and the rental apartments in the Procuratie Vecchie were built above arcades with space on the ground floor that was rented out for stores, workshops, and later coffeehouses, including the historic Caffè Florian, Caffè Quadri, and Caffè Lavena. The Procuratie Nuovissime (Newest Procuracies, also known as the Napoleonic Wing) was built during the second period of French occupation (1805–1815) when after the fall of the Republic of Venice, the Procuratie Nuove was transformed into the residence of the viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. Today, much of the Procuratie Nuove and the Napoleonic Wing house the Correr Museum.

Caffé Lavena is a café in the city of Venice, Italy. It was established in 1750, and was originally called Regina d'Ungheria (the Queen of Hungary) under the Austro-Hungarian empire. The café has its origins in the popular Venice of the 17th century, it became later Orso Coronato (Crowned Bear) because of the picturesque sign showing a bear standing on his hind legs with a crown on its head. In 1860, Carlo Lavena bought the cafè and it has remained in his family ever since.

Piazza San Marco (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjattsa sam ˈmarko]; Venetian: Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as la Piazza ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (except the Piazzetta and the Piazzale Roma) are called campi ("fields"). The Piazzetta ("little Piazza/Square") is an extension of the Piazza towards San Marco basin in its southeast corner (see plan). The two spaces together form the social, religious and political centre of Venice and are commonly considered together. This article relates to both of them. A remark usually attributed (though without proof) to Napoleon calls the Piazza San Marco "the drawing room of Europe".

The Museo Correr (Italian pronunciation: [muˈzɛo korˈrɛr]) is a museum in Venice, northern Italy. Located in St. Mark's Square, Venice, it is one of the 11 civic museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. The museum extends along the southside of the square on the upper floors of the Procuratorie Nuove. With its rich and varied collections, the Museo Correr covers both the art and history of Venice.

Caffè Florian is a coffee house situated in the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco, Venice. It was established in 1720 and is the oldest coffee house in continuous operation in Italy, and one of the oldest in the world (the oldest being Café Procope founded in Paris in 1686).

Founded following the resolution passed by the Municipal Council Board of Venice on March 3, 2008, the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) manages and develops the cultural and artistic heritage of Venice and islands. Formed as a participatory foundation, it has only one founding member, the City of Venice.

St Mark's Clock is housed in the Clock Tower on the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square) in Venice, Italy, adjoining the Procuratie Vecchie. The first clock housed in the tower was built and installed by Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Rainieri, father and son, between 1496 and 1499, and was one of a number of large public astronomical clocks erected throughout Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. The clock has had an eventful horological history, and been the subject of many restorations, some controversial. After restorations in 1551 by Giuseppe Mazzoleni, and in 1615, by Giovanni Battista Santi, the clock mechanism was almost completely replaced in the 1750s, by Bartolomeo Ferracina. In 1858 the clock was restored by Luigi De Lucia. In 1996, a major restoration, undertaken by Giuseppe Brusa and Alberto Gorla, was the subject of controversy, amid claims of unsympathetic restoration and poor workmanship.

The Clock Tower in Venice is an early Renaissance building on the north side of the Piazza San Marco, at the entrance to the Merceria. It comprises a tower, which contains the clock, and lower buildings on each side. It adjoins the eastern end of the Procuratie Vecchie. Both the tower and the clock date from the last decade of the 15th century, though the mechanism of the clock has subsequently been much altered. It was placed where the clock would be visible from the waters of the lagoon and give notice to everyone of the wealth and glory of Venice. The lower two floors of the tower make a monumental archway into the main street of the city, the Merceria, which linked the political and religious centre (the Piazza) with the commercial and financial centre (the Rialto). Today it is one of the 11 venues managed by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.

The Royal Palace of Venice (Italian: Palazzo Reale di Venezia) is a complex of buildings located in the central St. Mark's Square of Venice, Italy, which served as the residence for Napoleonic viceroys, the kings of Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian viceroys, and finally, the monarchs of unified Italy. The use and successive modifications of the Royal Palace began in 1807 and ended in 1919 when King Victor Emmanuel III ceded the building to the Italian State. Currently, the complex is divided between the National Library of Venice, the Archaeological Museum, and the Correr Museum.

St Mark's Campanile (Italian: Campanile di San Marco, Venetian: Canpanièl de San Marco) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. The current campanile is a reconstruction completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At 98.6 metres (323 ft) in height, it is the tallest structure in Venice and is colloquially termed "el paròn de casa" (the master of the house). It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.Located in Saint Mark's Square near the mouth of the Grand Canal, the campanile was initially intended as a watchtower to sight approaching ships and protect the entry to the city. It also served as a landmark to guide Venetian ships safely into harbour. Construction began in the early tenth century and continued sporadically over time as the tower was slowly raised in height. A belfry and a spire were first added in the twelfth century. In the fourteenth century the spire was gilded, making the tower visible to distant ships in the Adriatic. The campanile reached its full height in 1514 when the belfry and spire were completely rebuilt on the basis of an earlier Renaissance design by Giorgio Spavento. Historically, the bells served to regulate the civic and religious life of Venice, marking the beginning, pauses, and end of the work day; the convocation of government assemblies; and public executions. The campanile stands alone in the square, near the front of St Mark's Basilica. It has a simple form, recalling its early defensive function, the bulk of which is a square brick shaft with lesenes, 12 metres (39 ft) wide on each side and 50 metres (160 ft) tall. The belfry is topped by an attic with effigies of the Lion of St Mark and allegorical figures of Venice as Justice. The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire at the top of which there is a golden weather vane in the form of the archangel Gabriel.

The Loggetta is a small, richly decorated building at the base of the bell tower in Saint Mark's Square, Venice, Italy. Built by Jacopo Sansovino between 1538 and 1546, it served at various times as a gathering place for nobles and for meetings of the procurators of Saint Mark, the officials of the Venetian Republic who were responsible principally for the administration of the treasury of the Church of Saint Mark and for the public buildings around Saint Mark's Square. Because of its location directly in front of the Porta della Carta, the most important entry to the Doge's Palace, the loggetta was also used from 1569 onward as a sentry post to provide security for the assembled nobles during the meetings of the Great Council: three procurators were to be present, assisted by an armed squadron of workers from the Arsenal, the government shipyard, in order to counter any popular assault and respond to any fire. Beginning in 1734, it was additionally the site for the extraction of winning tickets in the public lottery.The loggetta was largely destroyed in the collapse of the bell tower in 1902, but it was rebuilt using what original material could be salvaged, amounting to about half of the present building. At the same time the sides, which had originally been left in plain brick as other lean-to structures backed onto them, were rebuilt in the style of the main facade. The building serves as the entrance to the tower elevator.

San Geminiano was a Roman Catholic church located in Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, dedicated to Saint Geminianus. It is believed to have been founded by the Byzantines in the 6th century AD and it was destroyed and rebuilt several times over subsequent centuries. The last reconstruction began in 1505 to designs of the architect Cristoforo da Legname, and it was completed by Jacopo Sansovino in 1557. This church was a significant example of Venetian Renaissance architecture, and it was well-known for being ornate and richly decorated. The building was demolished in 1807 in order to make way for the Napoleonic wing of the Procuratie, and many of the artworks it contained were distributed among other churches and museums.