Palazzo Ducale di Venezia

The Palazzo Ducale (English: Doge's Palace), was a large palace in Venice adjoining the Basilica di San Marco.

Built to protect the Doge, or ruler, of Venice, the Palazzo Ducale was an imposing structure with high, unscalable walls and a guarded main entrance. The palace not only housed the Doge, but also served as his prison of sorts, as the leaders rarely left the building's walls.

In 1485, a Templar plot to gain the allegiance of the current Doge of Venice - Giovanni Mocenigo - had turned to one of assassination, with Carlo Grimaldi chosen to poison the Doge within his own chambers. The Assassins utilized Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine in order to get into the Palazzo, since the Palazzo was impossible to climb, or otherwise penetrate.

Following the death of Giovanni and his successor, Marco Barbarigo, Agostino Barbarigo became Doge, and continued to utilise the Palazzo Ducale as his personal residence.

Trivia

 * Like the Palazzo Medici, the Palazzo Ducale is designed to be impenetrable, and can only be entered once, during the mission to assassinate Carlo Grimaldi.
 * The only way to scale the walls of the Palazzo (outside of the Flying Machine mission) is to tackle someone from high up who is just under one of the arches. This can be done by throwing money just underneath an arch near one of those small lamp posts. Climb that when people rush underneath, press tackle and Ezio will jump high enough to land on the top of the arch.
 * Oddly, in Assassin's Creed: Lineage, Giovanni Auditore managed to enter the Palazzo with little trouble.
 * Palazzoducale.pnger way to enter the palace is to walk up th the wall on the southern side of the palace (the one just beside the bridge) and walk slowly to the end (in Low Profile) so that Ezio stands up on the ball.Then face the nearest pillar and push towards it in the High Profile mode. When positioned correctly, Ezio should climb up and stand on the pillar's ridge. then simply run up the wall and enter the balcony. climb the bordering wall on the balcony and run up the pillar. Continue climbing and one can reach the top of the Palazzo Ducale. This can be seen in the video below.

Videos
thumb|left|Re-entering the Palazzo Ducale without Flying Machine