Piazza San Marco Site Features

"The finest drawing room in Europe"

Napoleon is popularly credited with calling Piazza San Marco "the finest drawing room in Europe," a line (real attribution unproven) that has stuck as shorthand for the square's grandeur -- an open, arcaded space ringed by some of Venice's most significant buildings rather than ordinary streets and shopfronts.

The buildings that frame the square

St. Mark's Basilica anchors one end of the piazza, its Byzantine domes and gilded mosaics facing directly onto the square, with the Campanile bell tower rising alongside it. Long arcaded buildings -- the Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove -- line the north and south sides, historically housing Venice's civic administrators and now home to shops, cafes, and museums.

Pigeons, flooding, and cafe life

The piazza is Venice's lowest point, and it's the first place in the city to flood during acqua alta, the seasonal high tides that put parts of the square underwater; raised walkways are a common sight here during those periods. Thousands of pigeons share the square with visitors year-round, drawn by vendors selling seed to feed them -- fending them off (or feeding them) is practically a rite of passage for anyone crossing the piazza.

Historic cafes with outdoor seating and live orchestras have lined the square's arcades for centuries, giving the piazza its enduring reputation as Venice's social gathering place. Caffè Florian, which has operated continuously since 1720 and is considered the oldest coffee house in Italy still in business, once counted Lord Byron and Henry James among its regulars; its longtime rival Caffè Quadri, across the square, was reportedly favored by occupying Austrian troops for Turkish coffee in the early 19th century. Some cafes still charge a cover fee for the string-quartet performances that accompany an evening coffee at their outdoor tables.