Piazza San Marco has always been the center of the city of Venice. It was called Piazza instead of Campo because even in its name it had to be unique. At the beginning of the 9th century the Piazza was much smaller. At the end of the 12th century the political and commercial power ofVenice had become far stronger. Then the Venetians felt the need to give a richer aspect to their Piazza. At the beginning of the 15th century Mauro Codussi started building theProcuratie Vecchie, the buildings that go down the left side with two floors with loggias. The work was continued under the direction of Bartolomeo Bon in 1512; Jacopo Sansovinocompleted the bottom end in 1532. The Piazza came to be what it was when Gentile Bellinidrew it in his famous painting of the “Procession of the Cross” - Accademy Gallery. The buildings that go down the right side are called Procuratie Nuove and they were completed in 1640 by Baldassare Longhena. The third side of the Piazza looking towards the Church of St. Mark was occupied by the Church of San Geminiano (the façade had been rebuilt in the 16th cent.). On the side of the Procuratie Vecchie close to the Church of St. Mark stands the Clock Tower, a fine Renaissance building with coloured enamels and gold: the central part was built after designs by Mauro Codussi (1496-99); the side wings were added between 1500 and 1506. TheCampanile (the Bell Tower, 98.60 metres high) stands isolated, by the side of the Church of St. Mark.
