Palazzo Ducale di Venezia

The Palazzo Ducale in Venice.

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. This can be seen at the start of this video.
• Oddly, in Assassin's Creed: Lineage, Giovanni Auditore managed to enter the Palazzo with little trouble.

Sources

• Assassin's Creed II