The Secret Itinerary through the Doge’s Palace covers the rooms and chambers where the delicate work of some of the most important bodies in the Venetian administration was carried out. The tour offers an interesting insight into the civil and political history of the city, its public organisations and administration of justice.
The visit must be pre-booked, and can only take place - at certain times and conditions - in the company of a special guide who will explain all the special features of each individual room.

One starts in the rooms of the Ducal Notary and the Deputato alla Segreta. Interconnected, these lead into the Square Atrium.
From this room a staircase leads to the large and beautiful Chamber of the Secret Chancellery, whose walls are lined with cabinets containing public and secret documents relating to the work of most of the Venetian magistrature.
Passing through the small room of the Deputy to the Chancellery one comes to the Torture Chamber, also known as the Chamber of Torment; this disturbing place is linked directly with the Prisons.

From the Torture Chamber you pass to the so-called Piombi. Though so vividly described by Giacomo Casanova, the Piombi did in fact offer prisoners much better conditions than those in the pozzi (the wells), the terrible cells on the ground floor of the Doge’s Palace.

The two, reconstructed, cells that were occupied by Casanova make up part of the tour. From the Piombi you pass directly under the roof to a tall and atmospheric attic located at the corner of the building between the waterfront and canal-side facades. This was the site of one of the corner towers of the much earlier castle occupied by the Doge. The cabinets contain a number of weapons, most of them sixteenth-century. The ceiling is decorated with works by Tintoretto, painted in 1566-1567.

Via a secret passageway within a wooden cabinet, the Chamber of the Three Head Magistrates is linked directly to the Chamber of the Council of Ten, from where one can go on to visit the rest of the Palace.