Medieval Venice. History of Venice. Sights of Venice. So what's the main secret?

Represented by a group of 118 small islands, separated by canals and connected by bridges. located in the Venetian Lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. The unique architectural style of Venice was formed during the heyday of the Venetian Republic in the 14th-16th centuries. Venice is currently listed World Heritage UNESCO.

The city's name comes from the Veneti, who inhabited the region in the 10th century BC. The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as a very important center of trade (silk, grain, and spices). This made Venice a wealthy city for most of its history. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music and is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

An urban settlement on the islands of the Venetian Lagoon was formed in the second half of the sixth century, and after one century all the islands began to obey one ruler - the Doge. There were 120 doges in Venice, the first was elected in 697, and the last abdicated in 1797.

From the 9th to the 12th centuries, Venice developed into a city-state. Its strategic position on the Adriatic made the city an almost invulnerable maritime and trading power. After the elimination of pirates along the Dalmatian coast, the city became a thriving center of trade between the Western and the rest of the (mostly Islamic) world.

In the mid-fifteenth century, Venice faced Turkish expansion, which forced Europe to look for other trade routes. As a result, the city ceased to be an important trading post and, when Venice was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797, the city was no longer a powerful power.

During the 18th century, Venice became perhaps the most elegant and sophisticated city in Europe, thanks in large part to art, architecture and literature.

In the nineteenth century, Venice became part of Italy for a time, but in 1866, after the Third Italian War of Independence, Venice and Veneto became part of the Kingdom of Italy. During the Second World War, Venice managed to avoid severe destruction; the city remained virtually untouched.

Tourism has been the main source of income in Venice since the beginning of the eighteenth century, when tourist excursions By picturesque places cities. Today it is one of the most visited cities in the world, with an average of about 50,000 tourists visiting Venice every day. In the 1980s, the Venice Carnival was revived, and the city began to host prestigious festivals: the Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, which attract visitors from all over the world.

VENICE

Historical and geographical preface.

1. Medieval Venice.

2. Renaissance period.

3. Modern Venice.

Venice was founded in the middle of the 5th century inhabitants of the solid land fleeing barbarian raids. The population found refuge on the islands and thus managed to preserve their own culture. Entire communities with priests and bishops emigrated. The islands became part of Latin culture, completely separated from the barbarians, although under the auspices of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire. Approximately in the 9th century The process of forming a new Venetian state began.

On east coast Peninsula, washed by the Adriatic Sea, lies the port of Italy - Venice. This city is located on 118 islands. From the shore of the Venetian Lagoon there are two large bridge. Instead of streets, the entire city is cut through by canals along which boats, nimble water buses scurry, and gondolas glide. This is city transport. It replaces the bus, trolleybus, and metro here.

Water has been a threat to Venice for a long time. Its level in the channels increases annually. Over the fifteen centuries of its existence, the city went under water by one and a half meters. There are different opinions: some say that the islands are collapsing and settling, that the piles have rotted, others consider the main problem to be the appearance of a motor fleet. Waves rock the piles and wash away the foundations. Projects are being proposed to save Venice, but they are very expensive.

For many centuries, Venice was the capital of the wealthy Venetian Republic. Like Genoa, it traded with many countries. Rich merchants built in the city luxurious palaces- palazzos, erected majestic cathedrals, connected the islands with fancy openwork bridges. The most beautiful palazzos are built along the “main street” - on the banks of the Grand Canal. Most of these palaces are empty; their owners come to Venice only in the summer. In the center of the city there is a huge square of St. Brand. It is surrounded by buildings that once housed government agencies Venetian Republic. Particularly beautiful are the Cathedral of St. Mark and the Doge's Palace - the rulers of the republic. Since ancient times, Venice has been famous for the production of artistic glass and lace. Nowadays, Venice (more precisely, its suburbs Mestre and Marghera) are important ports.

1. Medieval Venice.

In the Middle Age, 1200-1300, in connection with the development of water commercial routes (the famous Marco Polo) began to be brought to Venice from the East great amount spices: pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves. In total, 2500 tons per year. It is interesting that in those days cloves were used as chewing gum, which also gave it a pleasant smell. At this time, sugar was first brought here. A wide variety of food supplies were delivered to Venice: from Syria - pistachio nuts, from Armenia - apricots, from Lebanon - peaches, from Persia - asparagus.

The Venetians did not use the vast majority of spices to add to food, but used them as money to pay for a variety of services. This unique coin existed in Venice for a long time, along with 5 thousand tons of gold imported annually. Here, already during this period, the first insurance companies were opened, where spices were delivered on gondolas. Pirates, who monitored these maneuvers in advance, often attacked them, so the cargo was usually accompanied by state guards.

Venetian fleet transported crusaders to fight Muslims. Therefore, after the victories, the Republic was generously rewarded for services rendered. Many of these gifts can still be seen in the central Piazza San Marco.

In those days, it was customary to throw waste directly from the windows onto the ground. Naturally, it was quite difficult for pedestrians; in order to ease their fate at least a little, they used shoes with a high platform. Noble Venetians they almost never left the house and took air baths on their terrace in the company of children and old people. Many people traveled around the city on horseback, so there were no steps on the bridges. The streets of Venice were not cleaned by anyone, and if the voracious pigs, of which there were large numbers in the city, did not eat the garbage, they only hoped for a water spill.

To supply the city drinking water First, they drilled wells directly into the ground, and then built special devices in the areas to collect rainwater. This method worked for quite a long time, only about 100 years ago the first water supply was installed in Venice. In Piazza San Marco, under the bell tower, they sold wine by the glass. Why under the bell tower? Yes, because a shadow was moving away from it, and the enterprising Venetians, so as not to spoil this drink, gradually moved with the barrel in the direction of the bell’s shadow. Therefore, here the word “shadow” is immediately compared with wine. The central islands, where the bulk of the population was located, were surrounded by walls, and the main channel, which gave rise to the Grand Canal, was blocked off at night by massive chains. Thus, local residents defended themselves from barbarian attacks. The Venetians did not limit themselves fishing near islands or salt mining. They were brave and skilled sailors and made good use of their new location. Venice began to rapidly develop thanks to maritime commerce and was, as it were, a bridge between East and West.

2. Renaissance period.

During the Renaissance, 1400-1600, Venice first begins to show signs of decline, continuing until the fall of Venice (late 1700s). With the increase in Turkish raids and the discovery of America, trips to the East are reduced. Therefore, wealthy residents of Venice of this period invested money in the construction of palaces, which were built both in Venice itself and near the city. Thus, luxurious villas with beautiful parks for summer holiday noble nobles.

In the 15th century, a parade passed through Venice general famine. This was due to the fact that local agricultural products were worth much more than those brought from the East. Men leave their homes in the hope of finding some kind of work, but for many this goal remains unattainable. Then women are forced to support their families themselves. At that time in Venice, with a population of 100 thousand, there were 11 thousand street women. But hunger took its toll, and specially created detachments threw the dead directly into the canals.

The central political and social structure of Venice, as the only ruling class, was the nobility, but not of feudal, but of commercial origin, around which other layers were located: free artel workers and merchants. This system worked perfectly five centuries until the fall of the Republic. The administration relied on popular support, and the repressive apparatus was kept to a minimum. The masses fully supported the social structure, which gave a deep flowering to art. Architecture, painting, theater and music developed with extraordinary speed, the influence of which still distinguishes Venice from all other cities in the world.

Why did the Venetians surround their city with numerous canals? What does the lion on their banners symbolize? What forced them to hide the relics of the saint under pieces of pork? How did “funny lights” save the Republic? The history of Venice is wars, exciting intrigues, conspiracies, hidden from outsiders in the shadow of centuries.

Already in 997, when the military squadrons of Venice brought Trieste, Kapodistrias, Ragusa and a number of other cities and lands of Dalmatia under its control, the Venetians began to call the Adriatic Sea the Gulf of Venice, and the Doge took the title of “ruler of Venice and Dalmatia.” And during the first crusade, Venice obtained a promise that throughout the entire kingdom of Jerusalem its merchants would be exempt from taxes and taxes and would be able to trade unhindered.

Since 998, in the reign of the twenty-sixth Doge, Pietra Orseolo, the ceremonial galley Bucintoro was appointed for the marriage of the Doges to the Adriatic Sea on Ascension Day.

Each newly appointed doge on this day threw a golden wedding ring into the water, saying: “O sea, I become engaged to you, as a sign of my unchangeable and eternal dominion over you.”

One hundred and fifteen gold rings lie on the seabed. The remains of the last Doge have long crumbled into dust. And the sea is indifferent, like a thousand years ago, splashing like a wave, and man has no power over it.

From Corinth to Azov

The capture of Ptomelais, ancient Tire and Sidon, Jaffa, and the capture of Jerusalem by the combined forces of the allied forces during the Crusades opened up new opportunities for the republic. Asian trophies poured into Venice.

While Europe was going bankrupt, equipping the crusades, the city of the lagoon strengthened its power. What saved him was the same thing that later destroyed him - practicality. Venetian galleys, brigantines, frigates, and merchant ships went further and further into the sea. The Peloponnese and Corinth, Chios, Lemnos, Abydos became trading points of Venice. Venetian ships also sailed by the Black Sea - to the Crimea, by the Azov Sea - to Tana, today's Azov, here they took not only bread grown in the south of Russia, but also furs, leather, slaves, Indian goods delivered through Central Asia. Venetian merchants felt quite at ease in Candia, Rhodes, Cyprus, Accra, Haifa, Beirut, Alexandria, Aden, Damascus, and Baghdad. In the 11th century, Venice was able to afford to begin construction of the luxurious Basilica of St. Mark, intending to create a church of unprecedented beauty. St. Mark's Cathedral is decorated with riches obtained in the East, in Byzantium, from the Turks and Saracens. In the decoration of the building there are entire pieces of Greek and Roman temples, adjusted to the size and shape of the cathedral. Convinced that the artistic value of the building would increase from the variety of its details, the builders did not spare the ancient ruins. Venice itself was originally built from Roman bricks, which were transported on boats from cities destroyed by invasions. They were taken from Tire and installed in the square of St. Mark, near the shore, there are two powerful columns (sinking another one along the way), made of red and gray granite. One of the columns is crowned by a statue of St. Theodore, the ancient patron saint of the Venetians, the other by a lion, the symbol of St. Brand. The bronze image of a winged lion is a Sasanian sculpture of the 4th century, and the white marble St. Fyodor riding a crocodile is composed of the torso of a 2nd century Roman general and the head of Mithridates of Pontus.

Since 1117, noble patricians began to be appointed to reside in all notable ports with the title of local councilors (consuls). In 1157, the first bank in Europe opened in Venice.

“Nowhere in the world is there such a huge concentration of masterpieces,” this is what they said about the city on the water.

Conspiracy against the Republic

In 1618, the Spanish ambassador to Venice, the Marquis Bedemar, seeing the wealth of the city on the water, conceived a plan to capture it. According to him, a thousand armed Spanish soldiers would be enough for this. The city was garrisoned by poorly trained zemstvo militia, and the troops of the Venetian Republic were busy with the war, both on land and at sea.

The ominous buildings of the Admiralty confused the gaze of the insidious Spaniard. He imagined it destroyed, the Venetian fleet burned. Spanish troops occupied the city, and banners with the lion of St. Mark bowed before the flag of Castile.

“No government enjoys such unlimited power as the Senate of the Venetian Republic,” the Marquis wrote in his diary. The Venetians were invincible when united, but now the nobles were squabbling among themselves, and in the neighborhoods of the poor they were ready to revolt. Bedemar spent a significant sum on bribing the leaders of this future uprising. The Spanish army was in Lombardy and could, if successful, reach Venice quite quickly. The Marquis did not let the king know about his intention, but hinted to one of the ministers and received tacit approval in response.

Taking advantage of his diplomatic immunity, the Marquis Bedemar bought bags of weapons that would be enough for a couple of battalions. One by one, soldiers in disguise and still unarmed began to enter Venice: the Spaniards and the Dutch. They were waiting for the squadron from the sea. A certain defector, a captain who had previously served with the Duke of Ossuma, was also sent to the Venetians. Having assured the Senate that he had fled from the oppression of the Spanish Duke, the captain led the Venetian fleet and won several victories over the sea robbers - the "Uskoks". He was awarded the rank of admiral. He slowly recruited his people onto the ships.

"As soon as night falls, those of the thousand soldiers who come without weapons will go to the ambassador for them. Five hundred ... will arrive in St. Mark's Square, most of the other 500 in the vicinity of the Arsenal, the rest will take possession of all the ships on the Rialto Bridge," - wrote the Marquis Bedemar.

Having captured the Arsenal, it was necessary to kill all its commanders, storm the Doge's Palace, destroy the weapons depots, and burn the Admiralty. In order to divert the attention of residents from the events taking place, it was planned to set the city on fire in forty places. The arsonists were already recruited in poor neighborhoods.

The death of the old one and the election of a new doge somewhat shifted the plans of the marquis. It was decided to carry out the operation on Ascension Day, when the new Doge would solemnly become engaged to the Adriatic Sea, throwing into its waters Golden ring. Finally, everything was ready. The admiral of the Venetian fleet gathered supporters and explained in detail how to destroy the ships under his command and kill the crews of the ships. One of the admiral's men, Jaffier, alternated between blushing and turning pale throughout the meeting. “Jaffier was scared,” they told the admiral. “We need to do something with him immediately before he does something stupid.”

“Jaffier is my friend,” the admiral waved him off. “He will do everything that is required.”

Jaffier was Venetian by blood. He imagined fires, screams of people being killed in the streets, and enemy soldiers occupying the city. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, friends. Friends who will be executed if the plot fails. For a long time, the Secretary of the Council of Ten, Bartholomew Comino, could not understand what this exhausted and pale young man needed from him. But when he asked for the lives of 22 participants in the conspiracy and revealed the whole plan, the matter turned out to be terrible. So terrible that no one believed the informer.

How will the ships be destroyed? - asked the dumbfounded Comino.

Amusing lights. They are filled with a flammable mixture that is almost impossible to extinguish. The ships will burn, and the flagship on which the admiral is located will be captured by people loyal to the admiral. They are currently preparing or have already made these funny lights in the Arsenal.

Realizing that there was almost no time left before the deadline indicated by Jaffier, Bartholomew Comino rushed to the Procuration. The sentries were put to sleep by a sleeping pill mixed into the wine, and those who were standing were hopelessly drunk. In the Arsenal, where Comino then burst into, he did not find any of the conspirators until he broke down an inconspicuous door in one of the buildings. The bribed officials were finishing packing the last “amusing” fire and, seeing the angry secretary of the Council of Ten in front of them, they were scared to the point of hiccups and began to mumble something unintelligible in their defense.

“In the name of the Republic, you are under arrest,” Bartholomew Comino announced. The Council of Ten alerted everyone they could find. Together with the guards, Comino burst into the presence of the Spanish ambassador. Amid the marquis's screams and curses, the guards carried armfuls of weapons out of the house.

The small ship, having raised all sails, rushed towards the Venetian squadron. The admiral was called on deck, ostensibly to deliver an important letter, stabbed to death and thrown into the sea. All his supporters were dealt with in the same way. The Republic ships were saved.

Without thinking twice, the Council of Ten put to death the rest of the participants in the conspiracy. Forty officials bribed by the marquis were drowned, the inspirers of the failed uprising were strangled and hanged by the leg for everyone to see as traitors. Three hundred more people were strangled secretly in prison. Some of the Spanish soldiers fled and some were captured.

The Spanish Ambassador did not stop complaining and threatening. In response, the Venetian Doge said that he was ready to apologize to the Marquis if the Marquis explained where so many weapons came from in his house. Bedemar waved his hand and decided to go to the celebration of the Doge's betrothal to the sea. The unfortunate Jaffier rushed about, unsuccessfully trying to save his former friends. The Republic always loved to borrow, but was never in a hurry to pay bills. He went so far as to threaten and curse.

He was forced to take money - four thousand sekins. Within three days, Jaffier was obliged to leave the Venetian possessions. The return was due the death penalty.

The unfortunate man now wanted only one thing - revenge. According to Bedemar's plan, it was planned to raise an uprising not only in Venice, but also in one of the nearby cities - Bresse. The enterprise could still be a success, and Jaffier rushed there. But it was not in vain that the Council of Ten held large staff masters of shoulder work. Confessions were extracted under torture, and the secrets no longer existed. Surrounded by superior forces, Jafier fought to the death, commanding the remnants of the defeated Spanish detachment, but the Venetians managed to capture him. The Supreme Court of the Republic gave Jaffier the last reward for saving his capital. The verdict was: death penalty by drowning. The Marquis Bedemar soon received a decree of his resignation. “First of all, scold me and my actions,” he taught the man who came to replace him. “First you need to gain their trust.” To start...

Thirty years later, in 1648, the government of Venice received humiliating peace terms from the Turkish Sultan for discussion. Patrician Pesaro, instead of answering, donated 6,000 ducats to the fatherland. The entire Senate followed his example, which was an eloquent answer to the Sultan. The Republic was still strong, resting on the shoulders of strong-willed people who were ready to sacrifice property and life itself for its salvation and prosperity.

Age of mask

At the beginning of the 18th century, Venice was pushed into the Adriatic Sea and deprived of all its possessions outside its borders. Once upon a time, the British, Germans, and Swedes learned shipbuilding, navigation and cartography from the republic. Now the Russian Tsar Peter I was able to take only galley art from the Venetians; in other respects, numerous students had already surpassed their decrepit teacher. The Peace of Passarowitz with the Turks in 1718 put an end to numerous wars, and Venice began to live peacefully, without conquering anyone, without trading with anyone in particular, and burning through the remnants of its past.

She was full of charm. It was called the second capital of Europe, after Paris. All the celebrities of the scene, people of art, travelers and adventurers, rich people, inventors, charlatans and simply curious people filled the city, creating an amazing atmosphere. The 18th century was the century of music, and not a single city in Europe or even Italy could compare with Venice in terms of musicality. Life in Venice, luxurious and idle, was an eternal holiday. “Venice,” writes Monier, “has accumulated too much history behind itself, it has marked too many dates and shed too much blood. It sent its terrible galleys too long and too far, it dreamed too much of grandiose destinies and realized too many of them. .. After a difficult week, Sunday finally arrived, and the holiday began. Its population is a festive and idle crowd: poets and hangers-on, hairdressers and moneylenders, singers, cheerful women, dancers, actresses, pimps and bankers - everyone who lives for pleasure or money. creates them..."

The 18th century is considered to be the century of the mask. From the very beginning of its existence, Venice put on a mask, not revealing its plans to anyone, intriguing, spreading absurd rumors about itself and carefully keeping secrets. But there were no secrets left, intrigues were a thing of the past, and the mask became tangible. And the life of the republic suddenly gave way to just a game of life. From the first Sunday in October until Christmas, from January 6 until the first day of Lent, on St. Mark's Day, on the Feast of the Ascension, on the day of the election of the Doge and other officials, every Venetian was allowed to wear a mask. This is a carnival that lasted six months. Many masks appeared and disappeared, many people dressed up, each playing their role. The jealous Venetian merchant Pantalone has survived to this day in his strange, half-medieval guise - long red stockings, a short camisole, a protruding beard and a cloak with a hood, the Venetian maid Columbina, the Venetian jesters Harlequin and Brigella. The comedy of masks swept through Venice like an epidemic. The city on the water saw the last magnificent flash of the ancient Commedia dell'Arte.

Last minutes of independence

Bonaparte dealt the final blow to the Venetian Republic. On May 1, 1797, he declared war on Venice. A descendant of the famous patrician Pesaro tried back in 1796 to establish armed neutrality, but in vain.

On May 12, 1797, the last Doge of the Republic, having resigned his power, established a temporary administration, which was voluntarily transferred into the hands of the French. After 14 centuries of aristocratic rule, Venice fell. And in the last minutes of its existence, the republic had three million subjects, many fortifications, a fleet, an army, and 26,000,000 francs of annual income. The capital of the republic was impregnable both from sea and land. But no one wanted to protect her.

Having passed the formidable fortresses, which did not fire a single shot, on May 16, Napoleon's troops entered the city. But already on the seventeenth of October around the world in Campo Formia, the emperor gave the territory of the former republic of St. to the Habsburgs in exchange for other lands. Mark is like a pawn in a chess game.

On January 18, 1798, Austrian troops solemnly entered Venice. In 1805 it was again captured by the French. And in 1814 - again the Austrians.

Between the first departure of the French and the first entry of the Austrians there were nine days of inter-power. Nine days in which the mob took to the streets to burn and plunder their own city. The ceremonial galley of Bucintoro, in which the doges went out to betrothed to the sea, covered with gold and jewelry, was plundered, broken and thrown aground. The Austrians quickly restored order, put out the fires, imprisoned particularly zealous profiteers, and began to rule at their own discretion. And it was like that for half a century.

And suddenly Venice remembered her ancient greatness. In 1848, the Austrian garrison was captured. The head of the Admiralty, ship captain Marinovich, tried to hide, but the crowd caught up with him and tore him to pieces. Venice declared itself independent. But the past could not be returned. She held out for seventeen months. But blocked from sea and land, it was forced to surrender to Venice or other places.

Today's Venice is just a ghost of a former life.

Sixty-six percent of buildings in "old Venice" are in need of major repairs, and forty percent of dwellings are either uninhabitable or overcrowded. The sea in the Venice Lagoon is currently rising by about 1 centimeter every 10 years. At the same time, the process of soil subsidence in Venice is increasingly accelerating: an average of three centimeters per ten years.

Tidal currents “wash out” canals and undermine the foundations of buildings.

In 1501, Doge Agostino Barbarigo signed a decision of the Council of Ten, which stated that anyone who tried to “in any way damage the public dam, lay a pipe underground to divert water, or deepen or widen canals ... will have his right hand cut off, They will tear out his left eye and confiscate all his property..."

Now, in connection with industrial production, pipes have been laid in the lagoon, apparently or invisibly. They expanded old canals, dug many new ones, and pumped water and gas out of the subsoil. Is it because of all this taken together that Venice began to sink faster and faster into the waters of the lagoon? More and more often and more and more thoroughly, the streets and squares of the city are being overwhelmed by sea waves.

Venice is beautiful during the day and full of charm at night. The silhouettes of the palaces grow straight out of the water, and at the main entrances there is a palisade of poles - piers for boats and gondolas. The palaces stretch one after another - four-story, yellowish-brown, greenish-gray, pinkish-fawn. Now many palaces have museums, and that is why the Grand Canal is called the art salon of Venice. Wandering through the labyrinth of streets, you notice white stripes on the walls - traces of floods, and looking carefully into the water, which is now not very clean, you see that the chipped foundations of the buildings are bearded with blue-green algae.

The past is preserved in stone and in the names of canals, streets and buildings. Two bronze Moors ring the bell on the Clock Tower. Since the end of the 15th century, hands made by craftsmen from Parma have been moving, showing the seasons of the year, the phases of the Moon, the movement of the Sun from constellation to constellation and, of course, time. They say that even the time here is different - saturated with dampness and the salty smell of the sea, the time of ebb and flow, hiding in a white haze on the horizon, where the galleys, frigates and merchant ships of the Venetian Republic have gone forever.

Dmitry Belichenko. The whole world No. 14 1998.

In the northwestern part of the Adriatic Sea, where rivers flowing from the Alps carry silt, a vast lagoon was formed thousands of years ago, the waters of which are cleaned daily by the ebb and flow of the tides. From the east it is fenced off from the sea by a narrow strip of land.

Since time immemorial, the lagoon's 118 sandy islands have been home to fishermen, salt miners and waterfowl hunters. In Roman times, the islanders also mastered cattle breeding and agriculture. The inhabitants of the lagoon earned their food through hard work. But it was safe here - the sandy barrier of the Lido held back the pirates that swarmed the Adriatic Sea, and getting to the islands from the coast, not knowing the local swamps, was not so easy.

In 451, the decrepit Western Roman Empire was shaken by the invasion of the Huns led by Attila. The horror of these savages was so great that, according to stories, even birds carried away their chicks in their beaks. Fleeing from the invasion, thousands of refugees from the mainland poured into the lagoon - descendants of the ancient Veneti tribe - and so they remained here. The beginning of the history of Venice is usually attributed to this time. An old Venetian legend even names the exact date of birth of the city - March 25, 451, exactly at noon, the low tide allegedly exposed a vast sandbank to make room for the city itself. amazing city on the ground.

80 years later, the historian Flavius ​​Magnus Aurelius compiled the earliest description of the lagoon and its inhabitants. According to him, the first Venetians made great efforts to provide themselves with solid land. They patiently conquered areas of land from the sea, drained lakes, cleared swamps, erected embankments and laid canals. Early Venice was like a wooden ship. Its palaces, houses, churches and bridges were built of wood and rested on stilts driven into unstable soil. On each island there was a church, behind which lay a “campo” - a grassy field. Around the church were the houses of those who gave money for its construction; Poorer houses stood a little further away. Thanks to this layout, the city subsequently did not have rich and poor neighborhoods.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Venice first depended on Padua, and then became part of the Byzantine Empire.

***
In the first centuries of the existence of Venice, the leading role among the many island settlements was played by the community of the present Lido. The local settlement was then called Malamocco. However, discord constantly arose between the inhabitants of the islands. For this reason, the city authorities in 810 decided to move their residence to another, more fortified island - Rialto. This regrouping of forces was carried out just in time. In 812, one of the decisive battles of Venetian history took place on Malamocco - with the Frankish king Pepin (son of Charlemagne), whose army was buried in quicksand lagoons.

In the X-XI centuries, Venice quickly gained strength. Its enterprising sailors went further and further into the Adriatic, and then into the Mediterranean Sea. The republic's battle fleet became more and more powerful. In the naval battle of Dyrrhachium, the Venetian galleys defeated the fleet of the Normans, who then owned southern Italy and Sicily. For this service, Alexei Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, which nominally included Venice, opened the most important ports of the East to the Venetian merchants, freeing them from paying taxes and duties.

But the Venetians did not remember the good. In 1201, Venice contracted for 85 thousand silver marks to transport French knights - participants in the Fourth Crusade - to Egypt on its galleys. The Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo, a skilled politician and intriguer, tried to extract maximum benefit from this deal for the Venetian Republic. Instead of taking the crusaders to Africa, he set them against the weakened Byzantium, as a result of which Constantinople was captured and sacked on April 12, 1204.

Under the terms of the agreement with the Latin Empire formed by the crusaders, Venice was the heir to a significant part of the former Byzantine possessions. At key points in the Mediterranean, it now owned fortresses that controlled important sea routes. Its enterprising merchants ruled over vast areas from Italy to Palestine, reaching India and China.

The naval power of Venice was on everyone's lips: its battle fleet numbered 300 ships with eight thousand experienced sailors. The goods of Venetian merchants were transported by three thousand merchant ships with 17 thousand crew members.
Fortune favored Venice. After the defeat of the Byzantine Empire, she became the “queen” of the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean for two hundred years. The “golden age” of the city in the lagoon has begun.

***
Venice has never known monarchical power. From the first days of its existence it was a commune. Ancient chronicles say that the inhabitants of the lagoon elected leaders from among themselves, who were called tribunes in the Roman style. At first there were 12 stands, and each of them controlled separate island. But in 697, due to the threat posed by the Germanic Lombard tribe, the inhabitants of the island city-state elected their first Doge named Paolo Luzzio Anafesto. The word “doge” is related to the Latin “dux” (in our opinion, prince).

At first, the Doge's residence was on the islands of Heraclea and Lido. In 810, his residence was moved to Rialto, the largest island in the lagoon, which was divided in two by a winding channel. Following the Doge, patricians and rich merchants who had previously lived on the island of Torcello began to move here. By the way, Venice itself was usually called Rialto until the 11th century.

The Doge, elected for life, was a living symbol of the Most Serene Republic. In official documents he was called the Sovereign, and the profile of each new Doge was minted on coins. Doges usually became persons who had reached 60 years of age and had significant wealth. The election of the Doge, his dedication and wedding were arranged with magnificent ceremonies, which the Doge paid for out of his own pocket.

The Doge's ceremonial attire was distinguished by royal splendor and splendor: he appeared to the people in a purple robe woven with gold and trimmed with ermine, in the red boots of the Byzantine emperors and, until the 14th century, in a golden crown, which was then replaced by a high cap, studded with large pearls and precious stones. When the Doge left the palace, a velvet umbrella embroidered with gold was opened over him.

However, for all that, the Doge was more of a ceremonial and sacred figure. The noble Venetian families took great care to limit his power. The Doge was not allowed to enter into contact with envoys of other states, manage the treasury, appoint officials, or even print correspondence addressed to him. All this was done in his presence by the Office of the Doge, which was also called the “heart of the state.” The Doge only signed the decrees she drafted.

In a word, dressed in truly royal robes, the Doge was a “sovereign without power,” the sacred shadow of the Venetian Republic. This importance of the Doge was especially clearly manifested in the custom of the so-called “betrothal of Venice to the sea.”
The history of this main holiday of the Venetian Republic goes back centuries.

In 1177, Venice entered into an extremely profitable treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who secured the republic northern part Adriatic Sea. The authorities of Venice decided to celebrate this memorable event annually, late autumn, on the day of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It must be said that on this day traditional celebrations were already taking place, established back in 998 in honor of the victory of Doge Pietro II Orseolo over the Dalmatian pirates. However, this ceremony was quite simple. The clergy and the Doge, in festive attire, went on boats to the island of Lido, where a solemn mass was celebrated in the Church of San Nicolo. But after 1177, this modest celebration was replaced by a magnificent ritual - the betrothal of Venice to the sea, which has since been described many times and in great detail by foreign travelers.

From early morning, Venetians, dressed in their best attire, poured out onto the streets of the city. All the city's treasures were put on display for the residents and guests of Venice - from the treasury of St. Mark to the piles of gold and silver coins in the money changers' shops. After the solemn mass, the Doge boarded the ceremonial 20-oar galley “Bucentaur” and, accompanied by thousands of gondolas, decorated with carpets and flags, sailed to the island of Lido.

The Bucentaur was a magnificent sight. It all sparkled with gold. Above its deck, decorated with stucco and purple, fluttered the flag of the republic. The Doge, who played the role of the symbolic groom of the deeps of the sea, sat on a high throne of honor. Noble persons in luxurious clothes took places under the canopy, and their children sat at the long red oars. At the entrance to the canal, the Doge threw a golden ring into the water of the lagoon with the words: “We are engaged to you, O sea, to possess you forever!” Thus, the union of Venice with the sea was sealed.

As the Venetian Republic weakened and declined, this celebration, which once had a deep religious and symbolic meaning, degenerated into an ordinary secular celebration, like a carnival. It was put an end to it by the troops of the French Directory under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who abolished the Venetian Republic in 1797. French soldiers broke the last “Bucentaur”, flattered by its gilding. Now its surviving fragments, along with a reduced model, are kept in the local Museum of Maritime History.

***
Already in the 12th century, all power in the city was tenaciously held in the hands of the ancient aristocratic families of Venice, merchants and bankers. This happened because the basis of the republic's prosperity was trade, and the bourgeoisie and artisans were too weak to play a significant role in political life.

In 1172, the Grand Council, consisting of 480 noble citizens who were elected for a period of one year, became the highest body of state power in Venice. The members of the Great Council themselves, in turn, elected the Doge, and subsequently the Senate. But already at the beginning of the 13th century, real executive power passed to the Council of Forty - supreme court Republic, and then concentrated in the hands of the Signoria, which was controlled by an even smaller body of power - the Council of Ten, which over time turned into the highest tribunal of the Venetian Republic.

In 1315, the so-called “Golden Book” was compiled, where the names of citizens who enjoyed voting rights were entered. As is clear from this document, only 2,000 rich people - nobles, or 8% of the city's population (later their share decreased to 1%) were full citizens of Venice. It is this small group of the true rulers of the city that the Venetian chronicles call “the people of Venice.” The republic turned into a classic oligarchy.

The Council of Ten closely monitored the slightest signs of discontent. Any attempts by the Doge and other persons to seize power in the republic were mercilessly punished. In general, the Council of Ten could bring to justice any Venetian accused of disturbing the peace. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote that it was “a bloody tribunal, striking on the sly and deciding in utter darkness who will die and who will lose their honor.” Before this tribunal, the accused had no right to defense and could only count on the mercy of the judges.

It may seem strange, but the common people of Venice felt under the control of this government, if not happy, then quite content. The “Fathers of the Fatherland” tried to provide the crowd with a cheerful and satisfying life and did not allow abuse of the law. Thus, the Council of Ten very carefully considered the complaints of ordinary people against the nobility, strictly punishing the offending nobles. Apparently, thanks to this, Venice gave an example of the longest experience of a republican system in the history of mankind.

***
Medieval Venice represented a rare example of a secular state for its time. The Venetian government assigned the church and religion the role of a spiritual assistant to the state in instilling in its subjects respect for law and authority. The importance of the state itself was exalted in every possible way, serving it was regarded as a duty and honor, state interests were placed above personal ones and required self-sacrifice. The word “state” was written only with a capital letter. And since 1462, the Republic of Venice began to be called Serenissima (Serenissima), which can be translated in two ways: “The Most Serene” or “The Most Serene.” The new name reflected the officially established idea of ​​Venice as a calm and peaceful state.

To maintain and strengthen this state ideology, the authorities of the Republic took special care to create historical works glorifying the past of Venice. It is no coincidence that the historical chronicle became the most widespread genre of patrician literature. In the second half of the 15th century, by order of the Venetian Republic, Marcantonio Sabellico compiled the 33-volume “History of Venice from the Founding of the City,” in which he argued that Venice surpassed the Roman Republic in the justice of its laws and government. At that time of universal admiration for antiquity, it was impossible to imagine greater praise.

Like most cities, Venice grew due to the influx of visitors. And in order to avoid chaos, the city authorities pursued a strict migration policy. According to the statute of 1242, the natives of the four islands of the lagoon - Rialto, Grado, Chioggia and Cavarzere - were considered Venetians proper. Only they had the right to build houses in Venice. All the rest were included in the category of “invitees”, who received equal rights with the “born” only after 25 years of life in the lagoon.
The secular nature of the Venetian Republic led to greater freedom of local morals. Suffice it to say that many married couples did without a church blessing and, as a result, easily broke their marriage ties - a completely scandalous matter at that time. Gambling became so widespread that the government had to issue a decree prohibiting gambling in the portico of the Cathedral of San Marco and in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace. Professional players were flogged and branded with irons. And the Venetians were known for such terrible foul language that the poet Petrarch even complained about them in his poems. The authorities clearly outlined their position here: public insult with a word was punishable by a large fine.

Probably, some of what we heard would be useful to transfer into our everyday life.

***
By the 15th century, island Venice had become one of the largest mainland states. Except half Northern Italy, The Republic of St. Mark owned part of what is now Croatia and Slovenia, the Southern Peloponnese, Athens, Cyprus and colonies scattered throughout the Middle East and the Black Sea region. Venice called its mainland possessions Terraferma (“solid ground”).

The economic prosperity of the Republic of Saint Mark was based on maritime trade. In their colonies, the Venetians sought to take over all local trade, engaged in usury and mercilessly oppressed the indigenous inhabitants. Residents of neighboring Slavic Dubrovnik, for example, did not dare to sell their goods anywhere other than in Venice itself, where, naturally, they received pittance for it. Any craft there was suppressed in the bud, only the production of tallow and wax candles for home use was allowed, and soap and pottery had to be bought only in Venice. The Venetians also assumed a complete monopoly in the Adriatic on the construction of sea vessels.

Engaged only in the predatory exploitation of its colonies, Venice did not care at all about their development. During its reign, the Republic did not build a single road in Terraferma, did not organize a single production for processing local raw materials, did not plant a single olive tree or grapevine.

All the neighbors of the Republic of St. Mark experienced the insidiousness of Venetian policy. Venice had a particularly destructive influence on the Zeta state of the Dalmatian Slavs. Century after century, she pushed him away from the sea, bringing discord and confusion into his inner life. And when the Zeta state was completely weakened in this struggle, the Venetians began to convert its people to Catholicism, take away churches and monasteries from the local Orthodox Church, and, in case of resistance, destroy them. Orthodox priests and monks were expelled or exterminated.

Therefore, it should not be surprising that the Republic of Venice has a very unflattering international image. Venice's neighbors compared her to a toad and a sea snake. The 13th-century Italian chronicler Salimbene called the Venetians “a gang of greedy and miserly people” who turned the Adriatic into a “den of robbers,” and Giovanni Boccaccio (author of the famous “Decameron”) considered Venice “the repository of all abominations.”

In the end, the lagoon city suffered historic retribution.

***
Venice was dying slowly. Its decline began in the 15th century, when young Ottoman Empire began to seize one after another the mainland possessions of Venice. The Republic resisted with all its might, but bloody naval battles with the Ottomans only ravaged its treasury and drained its military power.

And then, as luck would have it, in 1499 the Portuguese Vasco da Gama opened a sea route to India, bypassing the Mediterranean trade routes on which the prosperity of the Republic rested. The Venetian economy suffered a severe blow.
In 1630, Venice was devastated by the plague, which killed 47 thousand city residents - a third of the entire population (including the great artist Titian). Today this is reminded by the giant bluish dome of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, erected as a sign of gratitude to the Holy Virgin Mary for ridding the city of a terrible epidemic.

By the beginning of the 18th century, Venice was already politically bankrupt. However, it was at this time that she experienced another flowering of the arts - Tiepolo and Canaletto lived and worked in the city, and plays by Goldoni and Gozzi were staged on the stage. Until the very last days The Venetians lived easily and carefreely, as if not noticing the passage of merciless time.
Thus the Age of Enlightenment came to an end, and with it the history of independent Venice. In 1794, the troops of the young general Napoleon Bonaparte captured Northern Italy. On May 12, the Venetian Senate received a formidable ultimatum from the French commander, and the city on the islands, with powerful fortifications, a large fleet and five hundred fortress artillery guns, surrendered to the ground army without firing a single shot.

The last Doge, Ludovico Manin, casually threw his crown to a servant with the words: “Take it away, this will no longer be needed.” Napoleon plundered the Venetian treasury, destroyed about forty palaces, and three years later handed over the gutted city to Austria.

In 1826, Venice was declared a free harbour. After Byron's visit to the city, the poetry of Venetian decadence became fashionable. Bohemians came to the Venetian canals and bridges for inspiration, wealthy Europeans spent the summer on the fashionable beaches of the Lido.

In 1866, Venice became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy. However, memories of the 14th century of the Republic of St. Mark are still alive in Venice. In the summer of 1997, a group of patriotic youth hoisted the ancient banner of the Republic on the bell tower of San Marco and demanded independence for the Venetian region. It seems that Venice’s proximity to present-day Kosovo is unlikely to have cooled these sentiments...

***
After Napoleon's decree on the liquidation of the Venetian Republic, the city seemed to freeze in anticipation of its destruction. Already in the middle of the 19th century, Venice was for Balzac just “a pitiful, shabby city, which with every hour tirelessly sinks into the grave,” and the inexorable water hangs “mourning fringe” on the plinths of houses. Emile Zola did not see any prospects for the revival of the “trinket city,” which, according to him, was time to be placed under a glass cover.

An ancient prophecy says: “Venice was born from the sea, and it will find its end in the depths of the sea.”

Indeed, the future of Venice gives rise to serious concern. The sea, which for centuries has enriched the city with rich goods from the countries of the Levant, now threatens it with death. “Most Serene Venice” does not rise from the waters, as it did before, but sinks into the waves, like a sinking ship. In the mid-60s of the last century, the world was shocked by the message of scientists: Venice is sinking under water at a rate of two and a half millimeters per year. Floods are becoming more frequent, and increasingly, sea water is flooding the lower floors of palazzos - these magnificent monuments of Venetian architecture. Priceless art collections in city museums and private collections are suffering from dampness. In the Cathedral of San Marco, the floor has curved bizarrely due to the settlement of the foundation, as tides regularly turn the area in front of the cathedral into salt Lake. Stucco figures of cherubs and seraphim are crumbling from the façade of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute. The once wise laws of the Republic declared anyone who dared to lay a pipe in the ground an enemy of the Fatherland, and until recently today’s unfortunate entrepreneurs pumped groundwater with all their might, thereby contributing to further subsidence of the soil.
The environment within the city is polluted to the extreme. The canals are littered, the water in them is lifeless, even poisonous. The industrial complex of Porto Marghera, which has grown up just five kilometers from the Doge's Palace, fills the air with acrid sulfur fumes that cause the erosion of historical buildings and statues.

Experts from all over the world are developing projects to save the unique city in order to prevent Venice from sharing the fate of the legendary Atlantis.

Although there’s really no need to invent anything. Recently, underwater archaeologists discovered the remains of the ancient Roman quarter of Venice in the lagoon. It turned out that 2000 years ago, two stone walls 150 meters long perfectly protected the city from sea tides. Apparently, in those blessed times there was no bureaucracy, with its eternal excuses about the lack of funds for carrying out expensive work.

Oh Venice! How many poems have been written about this amazing and unique city! Even her name conveys a beautiful poetic image of serenity. But lately the situation in the city can no longer be called cloudless, because the city is literally drowning before our eyes. And now you can often hear words of alarm that the city is slowly sinking under water and perishing irrevocably. There may not be a trace left of the once “serene” Venice in the near future. It is no coincidence that many now call it the most aging city locality Italy, a city where visiting travelers and tourists only stop.

Of course, the townspeople do not look at this indifferently - throughout their history they have been struggling with water inflows as best they can, but now the elements are becoming even more active than usual. If we take the times of the Roman Empire as the starting point, Venice has already sunk three meters under water and the process of such immersion cannot stop. Scientists see the main reason for this in the ever-increasing pressure of ground-based structures, and the fact that they do not stop their permanent job artesian wells.

On the brink of disaster

Once, namely 50 years ago, the city was already on the verge of disaster. Then the violence of the elements captured almost the entire territory of Northern Italy. Local residents who are still alive to this day remember those fateful hours with horror. The tide that entered the city in the evening caused a rapid rise in water. Nothing could be opposed to this unexpected misfortune. It turned out that the Lagoon was unable to withstand the water in order to protect Venice from the pressure of the waves...

An ominous communication silence hung over the city, telephones stopped working, houses became dark due to the loss of electricity, and gas was not available. Everyone who was in it could only walk in high rubber shoes. Eyewitnesses of the incident say that if there had not been a lull for some time, the destructive effects of the tide would have caused irreparable damage to the city.

For the already ancient foundations of castles and the residential sector, the danger is posed not only by strong tides of waves, but even by their gentle splashing. And therefore, in such a situation, there was practically no chance of keeping the buildings in a stable position. Without any doubt, the walls would begin to collapse, the roofs would fly off and, as a result, their complete collapse would occur. But by chance, the elements, as they arose, suddenly began to recede, the wind no longer raged and the water began to recede.

The consequences of the disaster were monstrous and the extent of the damage was colossal. But the loss of Venice would not be included in any material costs. But the very possibility of the existence of the city, and not just some partial destruction, was in question. This is a city monument. Venice is not just some individual historical attractions, it completely represents one huge monument and heritage of history.

Thank God, everything worked out, and the city can still delight everyone who decided to admire it. He has seen a lot in his time - periods of prosperity, decline and sweet years of rebirth. Therefore, people’s task in relation to it should be extremely simple - to do everything so that more than one generation can admire such a unique place.

First settlements

This city is completely different from a metropolis in our usual sense. The history of Venice contains a lot of interesting things. The Venetian lagoon, which is divided by more than one hundred and fifty canals and ducts with almost four hundred bridges, gave rise to this unique phenomenon, where the historical center of the city is located on more than a hundred islands. A long, interrupted spit serves as a kind of border that fences off the site of modern Venice from the mainland.

It is also a dividing strip between the Adriatic Sea and a relatively shallow lagoon, which has a large number of shallows. By and large, they are not small parts of land, they only resemble it, representing silt or sand formations deposited by rivers. That's why they're like swampy soils. Being unstable and very unreliable, they are great places, which are capable of sheltering persecuted people from enemies.

Those who are interested in history are interested in knowing what Venice was like at the very beginning and how it was built. The first buildings that were erected by people on the site of the current city, of course, date back to ancient times and such settlements belonged to fishermen and salt miners. A more accurate date for the founding of the city, if you rely on the research of scientists, should be considered 560. In those distant years, the Lombards carried out their devastating raids on Italy. The head of the church, Pavlin, having taken all the church shrines and wealth, hastily left Aquileia and found refuge for himself and the patriarchate on small island Grado.

Other church ministers followed his example, creating their own bishoprics on the islands one after another, which were in different cities of Italy. Therefore, this difficult time is considered, albeit conditionally, the date of the formation of Venice. You can imagine the unusual and difficult conditions in which the first settlers lived. To connect small islands with each other, wooden decks were built, for this it was necessary to drive huge piles that could be supported in the unstable bottom or soil.

Therefore, in the future, one can observe that all buildings, even the most grandiose ones, have a base of wooden piles, which were driven to a depth of at least three meters, and in some cases the driving depth was three times greater, reaching up to ten meters. They are located very densely and on top, as a rule, there is space for platforms that connect oak and larch logs. Such devices are the basis for laying stone foundations.

For example, for the church of Santa Maria della Salute, many log houses were used; it has more than a million different wooden piles under it, mainly from species such as oak, alder, and larch. It took more than two years to build all this. The construction of the Rialto Stone Bridge took more than 10 thousand piles. The scale can also be indicated by the fact that the foundation of Venice is entirely based on the forests of Dalmatia. The strength of such piles is very reliable, because, for example, larch, lowered into salt water, becomes as strong as iron.

Heyday

The history of Venice has seen its ups and downs. If we talk about the period of greatest prosperity, then the Middle Ages became its golden age. This applies both during the Crusades and after them. By the beginning of the fifteenth century it was already an influential state. Venice's prosperity also owed much to its trade. At this time, the paths by sea had long been trodden, merchant affairs were going uphill. An endless stream of wealth flowed to Venice from all over the world. All this made it possible to build magnificent buildings and cathedrals. The greatness of the merchant fleet and the scale of trade could be evidenced by the fact that in 1424 thousands of first-class ships were already plying the seas here.

The construction and renovation of the city proceeded on a grand scale. As Venice was built, embankments were laid, bridges were erected, great attention was paid to the construction of new canals, while old ones that had already outlived their usefulness were filled in. But by the beginning of the sixteenth century, Venice began to gradually decline in political circles, its economic role and ability to significantly influence the world economy weakened. With the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, Venice was removed from ports abroad. New routes to India and the New World were opened, markets arose in Europe - countries such as Spain, England, Holland, all this undoubtedly affected the state of affairs and the Venetians were irrevocably deprived of their advantages in the trade sphere.

This is interesting: Venezuela owes its name to Venice. European navigators led by A. Vespucci, on one of their travels, noticing Indian houses on stilts that stood right in the lake, could not help but remember Venice. Since then, the name of the Latin American country, translated from Italian as little Venice, has taken root and has survived to this day.

But the wealth that was accumulated during the heyday did not go away and, embodied in beautiful architecture and other attractions, still allowed Venice to remain one of the largest cultural centers not only in Europe, but, without exaggeration, the entire globe. During the heyday visual arts they began to call her Serenissima - the Most Serene. The famous Venetian school of painting is still remembered today. Namely, it was in those years that it was founded. Among its natives are masters whose creations still delight the eyes of visitors - these are palaces and temples. And among the masters, history remembers such outstanding names as Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Veronese.

Morals of ancient Venice

But it was not only Venetian painting and architecture that attracted visiting gentlemen in those years. Strange as it may seem, but with the growth of fine culture, morality in the city fell. Often, prostitutes were the center of attention of guests no less than urban architectural objects and paintings. Historians attribute the adventures of the famous womanizer Casanova to this Venetian period. Among other things, this womanizer unwittingly became a trendsetter - triangular hats and raincoats, which could be seen at the carnivals of Venice, became fashionable thanks to him.

True or not, numerous studies indicate that in the 18th century the entire internal policy of the city was aimed at the decomposition of the entire society, and not just, for example, the aristocracy. When her life of leisure and luxury was explicitly encouraged; It was considered a good thing to support the ignorance and licentious behavior of church ministers, and debauchery in monasteries. The authorities also encouraged the development of all sorts of continuous discord among the common people. In addition to the moral disaster, there were others - just as terrible in their destructive power. For example, the plague covered the city more than fifty times!

Ah, carnival, carnival...

This period is also characterized by the fact that at this time the world-famous Venetian carnivals began to emerge. If we figuratively talk about what the 18th century was like, then it was the age of masks. Here in the Venetian expanses the mask was given status, almost government agency. This was one of the most significant inventions of the state, which lost any serious meaning. Starting from the first days of October until the Christmas holidays, then from the beginning of January until the first “Lenten” days, as well as on some other holidays, including the elections of the Doge and other governing officials, Venetians were allowed to wear masks. These days in total took up half of the calendar year...

Everything is replete with masks; they are already an indispensable attribute of clothing for both the Doge and the very last servant. Everything is done in masks and this is not only a game, as they say in public, everyday work is carried out in them, trials are conducted, fish are sold, they read, and they go on visits. It's hard to imagine, but that's exactly what happened. And the beginning of the origin of Venetian carnivals should be sought in the ancient customs of the Romans - Saturnalia.

These were such festive annual celebrations of Saturn, they were held when the harvest ended and there was a winter solstice. Carnival masks were born in mass celebrations. On this day, slaves could sit at the same table with their masters. The masks hid the true position of its wearer in society. This was invented in order to reduce the influence of class prejudices, which could spoil the mood of those having fun.

Now the carnival does not last for six months - only ten days. A huge number of tourists visit Venice every year. They come here not only to watch the carnival, but also to participate in it. These days, various concerts are held in open areas, theaters delight spectators with performances where the central theme is carnival. Fireworks roar and fireworks sparkle, and the doors of ancient palaces are open to those guests who dream of taking part in masquerade balls. The streets of Venice are full of townspeople dressed in the costumes of popular characters around the world, including Columbina, the emblem of the holiday.

No need to repair roads

The good thing about Venice, besides all its unique attractions, is that there are no roads. Main view transport used by local residents and city guests is water. Just like on regular roads, there are “minibuses” - they deliver passengers along given routes. And although there is no highway, there are also signs akin to ordinary road ones. Famous all over globe gondolas serve as excellent transport to romantic walks, which, as a rule, is of particular interest to tourists.

To ride on such an exotic vehicle, you need to pay quite a decent amount. An hour's walk costs seventy euros. The gondola is a rather long vessel - eleven meters long and one and a half meters wide. It is also a symbol of the city, as are the carnival events. By the way, it should be noted that this type of transportation is not used anywhere else. The first similar boat began to be built back in the second century, and if we talk about the elongated shape, then the countdown already begins five hundred years earlier.

There are two things that tourists pay attention to. They can be said to be one of the main features of Venice. The first is the lack of tree plantations. With this, as they say, everything is clear. The second is the pronounced dilapidation of the walls of the buildings. This is what puzzles many people. They just don’t realize that this is a specially created style that gives an irresistible look to Venice. For this purpose, even newly plastered buildings are artificially aged.
Information for tourists.

Those wishing to visit Venice might be interested to know that in itself island part, which is historical and where tourists mainly come, is quite compact and small sizes. It will be a little more than four kilometers long and half as wide. Therefore, it is possible to pass it even in an hour and a half at a leisurely pace.

The city has six districts, which are divided by big canal– Canal Grande. If you rise to a bird's eye view, you can see that Venice is similar in silhouette to a fish, cut in the middle by the same canal, on both sides of which the Venetian districts lie. Each of them is original and different from each other, having its own historical values ​​and unique atmosphere. Next to the canals and narrow crooked streets, churches and palaces stand sparkling with rich decoration.

Well, now about the places that every visitor must visit so that Venice and the history of the city can be more fully revealed to them. The relatively small city has more than one hundred and fifty churches, many other attractions: palaces, museums, galleries. Everyone can find something interesting for themselves. Here are some attractions:

  • main square of San Marco. Very a nice place, tiled with marble;
  • St. Mark's Cathedral;
  • the Doge's Palace - it housed the former rulers of Venice;
  • Bridge of Sighs. Among the many bridges that you can talk about for hours and have different amazing stories, this bridge is notable for the fact that convicts were escorted from the Doge's Palace to prison over it. In those harsh times of the Inquisition, acquittals practically did not exist, so a short farewell to the convicted person took place here.
  • Peggy Guggenheim Gallery. It is worth a visit for those who are interested in contemporary art, including the avant-garde.
  • Academy Gallery. It will be very useful for those who are interested in classical art.

Service

The situation here is probably not as good as many tourists visiting this beautiful corner of Italy expect. You can often hear complaints about not very good service. Often you may be offered not very tasty, but at the same time very expensive food. Among other things, you may encounter rudeness. In this regard, experienced tourists advise buying food and eating away from the city center.

And living in a hotel in the city itself is simply an unaffordable luxury, which only wealthy tourists can afford. The prices are exorbitant. Therefore, most visitors stay somewhere in neighboring towns, for example, one of them is called Mestre. It is easily accessible by any means of transport - bus, train, boat or taxi. The cost of staying at a hotel is several times cheaper.

 

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