 Wednesday, day 5 We started the morning with the Secret Itinerary through the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale). It was supposed to begin at 9.55 AM, but started much later due to a problem they were having with the computer records of the tour. That meant that we were wedged in between other scheduled tours and several times we had to wait around for the tour ahead of ours to move on. The through the Doge's Palace visits rooms and chambers where the Venetian administration was carried out. That includes the Office of the Great Chancellor, Torture Chamber, Chamber of the Inquisitors. and the cells used exclusively for the prisoners of the Council of Ten, including Giacomo Casanova. These areas are not visited by most visitors to the Palace. Photography was only permitted in the outside areas and the Golden Staircase.
At the conclusion of the Secret Itinerary tour, we were free to visit the rest of the palace and it was a waste to have purchased separate tickets to the Doge's Palace. The huge crowds in the other areas were a big contrast to the private areas we had just visited.
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