This beautiful, intimidating Gothic building is where the rulers of Venice orchestrated mysterious and nefarious power plays. The ornate Golden Staircase (Scala d’Oro) leads to the Doge’s apartments, where the best things to see are Sala del Scudo, Sala Grimaldi, Sala del Senato, the old jail cells, and the corridor that leads to the Bridge of Sighs, so named for the last sad breath prisoners would take as they got their final view of Venice.