The great events that marked city life took place in the Piazza: from the ancient concio (assembly) of free men, to the arengo, where voting was by delegation, to the Doge’s official presentation from the Palace’s loggia accompanied by the clich� “questo xe el doxe, se ve piaxe” (used and then abandoned as a polite but empty clich�) to the Doge’s own official investiture that was held in St. Mark’s. Once in the Piazza the Doge, in a sedan chair supported by dockyard workers, was carried around accompanied by his family and throwing gold coins to spectators who quarrelled to pick them up. Then the Doge proceeded to the Ducal Palacefor the official swearing in ceremony.
The generosity or greed of the Doge could be understood from the pace of the ducal sedan chair; the most munificent was it seems the last Doge, Ludovico Manin, who had large amounts of silver coins minted over night: however, he was not loved being of acquired nobility, and as a result the Venetian people continued to call him “el furlan” (the Friulan).
Following a circular route, which led to burial, the funeral procession of the dead Doge also started from the Piazza and ended at St. Mark’s.

Another very important civil event for the Republic was the nomination of Generale da Mar. While the commander of ground troops was a foreigner, the command, in the event of naval war, was always bestowed upon a Venetian noble: the sword of command was always officially consigned by the Doge in St. Mark’s. Then from St. Mark’s, across the Piazzetta, while a row of harquebusiers shot into the air as the Doge and the new captain passed, who boarded the commanding galley, marked by a triple stern light.
The sea and navigation had led to the city’s rise to power and Venice will never forget it, celebrating its yearly marriage to the sea in the Sensa festival. This ceremony, which celebrated the conquest of Dalmatia, involved the departure of the Bucintoro (official ship) from the Basin, exalted in many paintings in which the galley seemed ever more ornate and magnificent.
On reaching the Lido, from the Bucintoro the Doge dropped a ring into the sea, a symbol of the city’s marriage to the sea.
But the Sensa was also a big public festival: for 15 days stalls and kiosks of all types filled the Piazza, the Piazzetta and the Quay giving life to a market offering all manner of goods.