The prisons of Venice were found inside the Doges Palace. The most inhospitable were situated on the ground floor, and came to be known as the Pozzi (or wells) - they were 18 cells – dark and lined with wood, and connected by bleak, murky corridors. Here, the living conditions were terrible: under the wooden tables lurked every type of insect, food was scarce and inedible, the air suffocating, and the environment overcrowded.The most famous prisoner was Giacomo Casanova, who ended up in prison after a long series of crimes and was the protagonist of the most famous and fantastical of escapes: having climbed onto the prison roof, Casanova managed to slide down a drain pipe, slip inside the Palace and then persuade someone to open the door, in order for him to then escape calmly on a gondola. Not, according to legend, without first allowing himself a coffee in the Piazza San Marco.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 14:56:28 +0000
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