The Doge’s Palace is a palace on the Italian coast of Antiterra, “where the old doge of Venice used to be, though now there is none”. Travelers arriving by sea land there, and it serves above all as the entrance to Venice.
| Type | Place (palace) |
| World | Antiterra |
| Location | Italian coast, Venice, near Saint Mark’s Square |
| Spanish entry | Palacio Ducal |
Description
The coast, the palace and Saint Mark’s Square, which lies “near”, are contiguous. One “sails to Venice”, lands at the palace, and the city begins behind it: “they are reaching the Italian coast, they are coming in here, through the Doge’s Palace.”
There is a second way in: someone “opens a door” from outside, and those who cross it find themselves on the other side, in the Doge’s Palace by Night.
The doge’s seat is vacant, and nothing is recorded as replacing him. Arrivals are told to stay unseen: «Pasen desapercibidos porque esto está fatal» (“Go unnoticed, because things are terrible here”). During the recorded incursion the palace was in extreme danger, and what happened there would decide whether the Venetian venture began well or badly.
Other palaces
Antiterra has other palaces that share only the word:
- Buckingham Palace, which holds “the reproductions of Asmodeus”.
- Palacio Argento, in the acropolis of Zélatar, with “the hundreds of aranes despejados”, which offers “some rooms for you”.
- Summer Palace, rebuilt on the Broken Ridge, scene of the antagonists’ diplomatic dinners.
- Palace of Chorzín, mentioned only in the cosmology.
Conflicting accounts
- These palaces are treated as separate buildings, but the label has merged them more than once, and the question is not settled.
Open questions
- Whether the Palace by Night is the same seat at another hour or a different state of the site.
- Its materials, size, entrances and interior, and how its halls connect to Saint Mark’s Square.
- Who now holds the doge’s seat.
- What exactly “was terrible” that night, and from whom to stay unseen.
- Who opens the door to Venice, and where it leads from.