One may walk or sit at will in S. Mark's as long as one wishes, free and
unharassed; but a ticket is required for the galleries and a ticket for
the choir and treasury; and the Baptistery and Zeno chapel can be
entered only by grace of a loafer with a key who expects something in
return for opening it. The history of this loafer's privilege I have not
obtained, and it would be interesting to learn by what authority he is
there, for he has no uniform and he accepts any sum you give him. If all
the hangers-on of the Roman Catholic Church, in Italy alone, who perform
these parasitical functions and stand between man and God, could be
gathered together, what a huge and horrible army it would be!




CHAPTER IV

THE PIAZZA AND THE CAMPANILE

The heart of Venice--Old-fashioned music--Teutonic invaders--The
honeymooners--True republicanism--A city of the poor--The black
shawls--A brief triumph--Red hair--A band-night incident--The
pigeons of the Piazza--The two Procuratie--A royal palace--The
shopkeepers--Florian's--Great names--Venetian restaurants--Little
fish--The old campanile--A noble resolve--The new campanile--The angel
vane--The rival campanili--The welcome lift--The bells--Venice from the
Campanile.


S. Mark's Square, or the Piazza, is more than the centre of Venice: to a