MARCIANA LIBRARY, Exterior

Hi, I'm Debbie, your personal guide. Together with MyWoWo, I'd like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world.

Today I'll accompany you through the Marciana Library, which is one of the most spectacular buildings from Venice's Renaissance age!

St. Mark's Piazzetta, where you now stand, features two magnificent palaces facing each other. They are completely different in style and function, but they both have harmonious and delicate loggias: they are the Doge's Palace and the Marciana Library. The Marciana Library dates back to the first half of the 1500s and was built by one of the best architects of the time, the Florentine Jacopo Sansovino, who also designed the Golden Staircase here at the Doge's Palace.

Sansovino was practically adopted by Venice: he had been named Protomastro, which meant he was responsible for public buildings in the city, a position that allowed him to create splendid official architecture over a 40-year period....