Carta Gate

The Porta della Carta sits between the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica as a tall, ornate gateway of white Istrian marble. Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon built the structure between fourteen thirty-eight and fourteen forty-two, establishing it as a hallmark of Venetian Gothic design. The gate functioned as the main ceremonial entrance to the palace, though it currently serves as the museum exit. Its name, meaning Paper Door, likely originates from the proximity of this site to the state archives or the scribes who gathered here to draft official documents and letters for the public.