CARNEVALE
VENICE
ITALY
VENICE
CARNEVALE in GREEN
CARNEVALE VENICE
2020
VENENZIA
ITALIA
VENICE
ITALY
CLASSIC VENICE
The MOLO Looking to San MAGGIORE
During CARNEVALE
CAFFE FLORIAN is "A MUST" !
VENETIAN CARNEVALE 2020
"WILL IT SNOW" ?''
By The BRIDGE of SIGHS
VENICE
CARNEVALE 2019
.
SANTA MARIA delle SALUTE
VENICE
VENETIAN SEAFOOD RECIPES
The FEAST of THE 7 FISH"
AFTER YOU VISIT VENICE"
Relive Your VENETIAN MEMORIES
With VENETIAN SEAFOOD RECIPES
In The FEAST of The 7 FISH
by Daniel Bellino Zwicke
The WINE BARS of VENICE
ULTIMATE GUIDE
by BEST SELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOK AUTHOR
Visiting VENETIAN BACARI (Wine Bars)
Are a "MUST DO"
During CARNEVALE in VENICE
SEE THE ULTIMATE VENETIAN GUIDE to The BACARI of VENICE
And YOU'LL WANT to GO to HARRY'S BAR
"ANOTHER VENETIAN MUST DO"
by BEST ELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOK AUTHOR
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
Inside HARRY'S BAR
READ CASANOVA'S VENETIAN SEDUCTIONS
AND ?
Do SPADE
CASANOVA'S FAVORITE CAFFES & WINE BARS
VENICE
GIACAMO CASANOVA
GUIDE to the WINE BARS (Bacari) of VENICE
The MOLO
CARNEVEALE
CARNEVEALE
A BRIEF HISTORY of VENETIAN CARNEVALE
The origins of the Venice Carnival date back a very long time, but it is not one hundred percent clear when this would have been. Most sources mention 1162 when Venice celebrated the victory against the Patriarch of Aquileia, while other sources claim that the Doge Vitale Falier (the chief magistrate in the former republic of Venice) and the government of la Serenissima allowed the poor people already in 1094 to enjoy a short period of fun and festivities. Over time, the event has appeared and disappeared, and the festival and the use of masks even became strictly forbidden in 1797 under the rule of the King of Austria. It reappeared gradually in the nineteenth century, but only for short periods and mainly for private parties. It was only since 1979 that the event became organized in the current way. At that time, the government and some Venetian associations (such as Teatro La Fenice, the Venice Biennale and other tourist organizations) decided to revive the history and culture of Venice.
Nobody knows why Venetians began wearing masks. One of the scholars claims that it was caused by the extremely rigid class system ruling in Venice, especially that during carnival the usual order was overthrown: the poorest beggar could pretend to be the richest man.
The tradition of masking has a long tradition in Venice. All the way back in 1268, a law even was passed to ban—of all things—putting on masks and throwing perfumed eggs!
By the time of the Renaissance, masks were a fixture of Carnevale celebrations. By the 16th century, the popular Commedia d’Arte troupe performed slapstick comedy in the piazzas of Venice—while masked. Believe it or not, though, masking was hardly just a Carnival tradition.
By the 18th century, Venetians were allowed to wear masks for six months a year. And they took advantage! Black velvet masks, for example, would be worn in “houses of ill repute”—especially gambling parlors—to shield their owners’ identities, as shown in the painting here.
Not quite. By the 18th century, Venice’s Carnevale festivities were going downhill. With the Austrian conquest of Venice in 1798, mask-wearing—as well as Carnevale—were all but finished. In the 1930s, Mussolini banned the celebrations altogether.
So what changed? In 1979, a group of Venetian artisans banned together to restart Carnevale. If that seems like a ploy for tourism, it was—and it was one that worked. Today, about 3 million people travel to Venice every year for Carnevale. The 1970s are also when the long-forgotten art of mask-making was restarted.
Today, Carnevale in Venice is a huge celebration that goes on for two weeks. While many events—particularly the opulent masquerade balls—require invitations and have steep ticket prices, many others, like the candle-lit parade of boats, concerts, and street performances, are free and open to the public.
A VENETIAN MASQUERADE BALL
VENICE
Painting by Pietro Longhi
Masked Revelers dressed in Traditional Costumes
At the MODERN DAY CARNEVALE
of VENICE
CARNEVALE
VENICE, ITALY
SUNDAY SAUCE
WHEN ITALIANS COOK
Piazza San Marco
by CANALETTO
The RIDOTTO
by Francesco Guardi
Venenzia
.
