Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thursday Challenge — "golden"


This is the beautiful scala d'oro (golden staircase) in the 
Palazzo Ducale, in Venice.  It was begun in the middle of the 
16th century, and used only by magistrates and very
 important people.  I happened to meet the Venetian who was
 given the job of re-gilding this staircase (and all the rest 
of the doge's palace).  It's an "inside job" though, because two 
of his ancestors were those same magistrates who were
allowed to use this very special staircase.

[To see more gold, go here.]

8 comments:

  1. Oh, wow, if there was ever 'golden', that's it. I think I'd trip over my own feet with all the looking up.

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  2. I had such a sore neck in Venice from constantly looking up to see sights such as these. Stupendous. And what a history ~ such a lovely story, Alexa. Thank you!

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  3. Just stunning! I did not see this when I was in Venice (sadly). From the stories I have read it seems that the artisans of Venice are quite a secretive bunch, from the artists to the glass blowers.

    Love this view of the staircase!

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  4. Great memories !! Looks even more golden ("goldener" looks strange to me but it may be the correct word !!) than I was remembering.
    And great story.

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  5. Charming! One day I hope to visit Venice. My father went to Italy on a business trip when I was a little girl - I still remember the mosaic ring he brought back for me and all the photos in the travel guide.

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  6. Magnificent! Venice is high on my very, very long list...

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  7. this really is golden too... Beautiful!

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  8. Gorgeous picture of a wonderful ceiling. Are people allowed to go up there these days?
    If so, that might induce me to travel to Italy.

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Thanks, merci, grazie, danke, hvala, gracias, spasibo, shukran, dhanyavaad, salamat, arigato, and muito obrigado for your much-appreciated comments.