In and behind the Halls of Power The picturesque oriental walls of the Doge’s Palace enclose two very different and contrasting aspects of the same political organisation: its magnificent public face with sumptuous halls of power, elegantly decorated with masterpieces by some of the greatest artists of Venetian painting, where foreign princes and ambassadors were welcomed on occasion, and alongside a parallel and scheming world, often hidden behind wooden panels, housing narrow offices, sinister prisons and the notorious torture chamber. This is an unforgettable tour that will take you from the pomp of the state rooms with their golden ceilings to the piombi (lead) cells. Relive Casanova’s legendary escape and walk across the creaking wood-beamed ceilings of the vast Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the Great Council Hall.