This tour will relive Venice’s tumultuous early period when doges were blinded or overthrown in an attempt to gain control of a commercially rich Byzantine province and witness the full flowering of the mercantile aristocracy that once ruled the world’s wealthiest trading nation and mightiest sea power. Through the gilded halls and dark prisons of the Doge’s Palace, you’ll discover the inner workings of Venice’s remarkable government: the ingenious electoral systems, the controls to prevent intrigue, and the penalties for corruption and abuse of power.