Doge's Palace, Venice · Travel Poster

Not just a view, the heritage behind it. Ella writes about the place, its hidden history, and the details that never make it into the guidebooks, all printed on the poster.

Built into the palace's walls, carved into the shape of a lion's snarling face, are stone letterboxes known as the bocche di leone, mouths of lion. Created after a failed conspiracy against the Doge in 1310, they let any citizen drop in an anonymous written denunciation against a neighbour, for tax evasion, blasphemy, treason, almost anything at all, and the state would act on it. Grand ceilings and gilded halls above, and a formal postal system for informing on your neighbours built right into the stonework below.

An original illustration, available in colour or black and white, created for the Ella's Adventures travel poster series.

No frame included.

Please note that, to protect the original artwork from copyright infringement, the images shown on this website are low resolution. The poster you receive is printed in high resolution, with all the detail and clarity of the original.