Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's

Square, is the principal square

of Venice, Italy.

A remark often attributed to Napoleon

(but perhaps more correctly to Alfred

de Musset) calls the Piazza San Marco "The drawing room of

Europe". It is one of the few great

urban spaces in a Europe where human voices prevail over the

sounds of motorized traffic, which is confined to Venice's waterways.

It is the only urban space called a piazza

in Venice; the others, regardless of size, are called campi.

As the central landmark and gathering place for Venice, Piazza San

Marco is extremely popular with tourists,

photographers,

and Venetian

pigeons.

The Piazza originated in the 9th century as a small area in front

of the original St

Mark's Basilica. It was enlarged to its present size and shape in

1177, when the Rio Batario, which had bounded it to the west, and a

dock, which

had isolated the Doge's

Palace from the square, were filled in. The rearrangement was for

the meeting of Pope

Alexander III and the Emperor Frederick

Barbarossa.

The Piazza has always been seen as the centre of Venice. It was

the location of all the important offices of the Venetian state, and

has been the seat of the archbishopric

since the 19th century. It was also the focus for many of Venice's

festivals. It is a greatly popular place in Italy even today.