For more than 1,000 years, the chief magistrate and leader of the city of Venice and later of the Most Serene Republic of Venice was styled the Doge, a rare but not unique Italian title derived from the Latin Dux.

The Venetian combination of elaborate monarchic pomp and a republican (though "aristocratic") constitution with intricate checks and balances makes "La serenissima" (Venice) a textbook example of a crowned republic.

Nominated by the popular assembly opposed to the iconoclast policies of the Byzantine Emperor; murdered by rebels during a civil conflict Deposed, blinded, and exiled.

In 1860, the nascent Kingdom of Italy created the office of the Mayor of Venice (Sindaco di Venezia), chosen by the City council.

Since 1993, under provisions of new local administration law, the Mayor of Venice has been chosen by popular election, originally every four and, later, every five years.