Piazza San Marco Venice
If you can manage to ignore the throngs of tourists, using your imagination while gazing around the expansive Piazza San Marco will transport you back to Renaissance Venice. The bright, open area of the piazza is surrounded by elegant stone buildings and the beautiful Basilica di San Marco, all built during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The piazza is considered to be the only official 'square' in Venice. It has been the center of Venetian social life for nearly 1000 years, and has been the site of many important political and religious activities. The square as it is seen today was mainly developed in the 7th century as the meeting place of Pope Alexander III and the Emperor Barbarossa by filling in the space over one of the city's canals to create an unprecedented wide, open space. The complete alterations of this square took place of the course of nearly a century, and was designed in part by architects such as Longhena, Rizzo and Tirani

Today the Piazza is still a popular meeting spot and is the best place to just sit and enjoy the sights in all of Venice. It holds the beautiful Basilica di San Marco as well as a host of other lovely buildings, and is filled with a virtual carpet of pigeons and people. Spend five minutes in this place, and you will see why Napoleon dubbed it as 'The finest drawing room in Europe.'