452 – Attile the Hun levels city of Aquileia: refugees flee to islands of Venetian lagoon 568 – refugees fleeing Lombards double lagoon’s population 697 – the parlamentari council proclaims Venice a Republic and elects the first Doge 829 – remains of St. Mark brought from Alexandria to Venice 999…
You cannot leave Venice without having admired the city from another perspective, without filling your eyes with the sight of magnificent buildings reflected on the canals, of dusk light floating on water, you can’t leave Venice without experiencing the magic and the relaxation of a gondola ride. The Roles of the Gondola Despite its considerable length,…
“Venice is in water and has no water”, said Marin Sanudo in 1500. As Venice was surrounded by salt water but didn’t have drinking water due to its hydro-geological characteristics, wells were built all around the city to collect rainwater. The work was realized by the pozzeri brotherhood, belonging to the Masons brotherhood, and was financed by private individuals,…
One of the many peculiarities of Venice is the way the city is structured. The city is divided into 6 areas called Sestieri (from latin word “sex” = six). The house numbers refer to the local Sestiere and not to the street, so a typical Venetian address will be Cannaregio 3210 or Dorsoduro 2541. This system is very old,…
Venice: “the City of Bridges” Venice counts more than a hundred islands, intersected by about 150 canals, linked together by more than 400 bridges that originally consisted of wooden planks because they served the passage of horses in use in Venice in 1400. They were later built in stone and brick, protected by side espaliers. Today the bridges that…
The Redentore Day is one of the few Venice holidays that Venetians really feel as their own. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of July. During the Saturday evening and Sunday, the areas of Giudecca island, San Marco Basin and Zattere became a playground of lights, colors, music, audacity, good food, laughter and lightheartedness. The origins…
Bellini is one of the most classy, precious and famous cocktails. The recipe is very simple: peach fresh juice and champagne. Where does this delicious recipe come from? Bellini was born in Venice in 1948, on the occasion of an art exhibition of Giovan Battista Bellini paintings. Giovanni Cipriani, founder of the world famous Harry’s…
The Clock Tower, or as it is usually called Moors Tower, is one of Venice landmarks. It was built at the and of XV century when the City of Venice decided to substitute the old Sant’Alipo Clock Tower. The astronomical clock was revealed in 1499 as the “most complex clock in the world”. The planets’ movement were…
Palazzo Grassi, located in campo San Samuele and facing the Grand Canal, was the last palace built before the end of the Venetian Republic, in 1772. The Stairwell The main stairwell is frescoed by Michelangelo Morlaiter and Francesco Zanchi, and the ceilings are decorated by the artists Giambattista Canal and Christian Griepenkerl. In 1840,…
Punta della Dogana: a strategic building Punta della Dogana separates the Grand Canal from the Giudecca Canal. For its strategic location it was the house of the Custom and of the Salt Warehouses. During the fifteenth century, the Sea Customs House, which had previously been near the Arsenale, was transferred to the western point of Dorsoduro borough….
The old and the new clashed frequently, and were never to be reconciled in the twentieth century. Nor was Venice able to escape the vilification and ambivalence that appeared in the interpretations in the early century. But the old Serenissima was not yet dead: indeed there was renewed fascination with the eighteenth century. Simmel and…
You cannot leave Venice without having tasted one of the trademark dishes that blends into one the city’s marine flavour and the aroma of the islands’ orchards: sarde in saòr. It is a grass-roots dish made of few and humble ingredients, whole and extremely flavourful (the term “saòr” means in fact “flavour”). The origins Its…