Scaring pigeons to death.. (Piazza San Marco)

Member Name: vhart

Product:	Piazza San Marco
Date:	24/12/01 (336 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful, free

Disadvantages: dodging dead pigeons in the winter, pigeons in general, dodging alive tourists in the summer

There can be few more memorable sights than one's first glimpse of St Marks Square. The guide books recommend a first entrance in time-honoured fashion, on the number 1 vaporetto from the station (or Piazzale Roma, where the buses arrive and the big car parks are), alighting the boat adjacent to the square, and making your way through the piazzetta into the square itself.

I think the best way to first see St Marks though, is when you are doing the general 'being lost in Venice' thing, and then, suddenly, you turn a corner, walk through a little underpassage and find yourself in the largest piazza in Venice.

And it is big...

It is hard to describe the square Napoleon famously described as the most elegant drawing room in Europe.

On one side, there is the golden domes of St Marks and with the stolen body of St Mark and the stolen horses of Constantinople crowning her. The other three sides of the piazza are colonaded magnificently facaded buildings, palaces and museums, hiding those well-hidden Venetian secrets.

The Quadri and Florian are the famous coffee shops which stand on the borders of the square, with equally famous prices. They charge you extra if the music is playing but you shouldn't even consider sitting down if you are on any kind of budget. Just as nice is to perch on a step and listen and look.

Because St Marks is the heart of Venice, it is the place many tourists crowd to, but I was there last week and it was almost empty, so if you pick your moment it can be wonderfully sparse.

The pigeons plague the square and the pigeon feed sold is laced with contraception, in a desperate bid to reduce the resident population.

If you stand on the top of St Marks, you can see children running through the pigeons (and some adults!) to great effect!

The poor pigeons do take a bit of a beating. Last week, I had the dubious privilege of watching one being eaten by a
seagull in the centre of the square.. I can't promise such excitement on every visit, but in the snow, the square looked particularly special.

St Mark's Square is also prone to the infamous 'Acqua Alta' when Venice floods. There are walkways erected and usually the waters come from about November till April and seeing the square flooded is quite spectacular, if you have wellies on, anyway!

St Marks is centre of Venice, if not in a physical way, in a cultural and emotional sense, it is a place of demonstrations, of rallies and public meetings. It is unmissable. So go, but have your coffee elsewhere, and mind the pigeons!!

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