Italy: One of Venice’s most iconic landmarks opens to visitors for the first time in 500 years

Venice: Visitors to Venice are now able to enter the Procuratie Vecchie after it opened to the public for the first time in its history on April 13 following an extensive five-year renovation project.

The building stretches the entire length of the north side of the Piazza San Marco or St Mark’s Square and is arguably one of the most famous and most photographed buildings in Venice.

Italian insurance company Geraldi and the NGO, Human Safety Net, occupy the second and parts of the third floor of the building but now visitors will be able to access the top floor where a permanent exhibition space has been installed after David Chipperfield Architects in Milan was called in to breathe new life into the iconic building.

Designers installed new spaces and opened up passageways and rooms that could be enjoyed by the public too.