Venezia (Venice)

"Entirely built on water by men who dared defy the sea, Venice is unlike
any other town. No matter how many times you have seen it in movies or TV
commercials, the real thing is more surreal and dreamlike than you ever
imagined. Its landmarks, the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale,
seem hardly Italian: delightfully idiosyncratic, they are exotic mélanges of
Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance styles. Sunlight shimmers and silvery
mist softens every perspective here, a city renowned in the Renaissance for
its artists' rendering of color. It is full of secrets, ineffably romantic,
and - at times - given over entirely to pleasure."

"You must walk everywhere in Venice (Venezia, in Italian) and where you
cannot walk, you go by water. Occasionally, from fall to spring, you have to
walk in water, when extraordinarily high tides known as acqua alta invade
the lower parts of the city, flooding Piazza San Marco for a few hours. The
difficulty of protecting Venice and its lagoon from dangerously high tides
has generated extravagant plans and so many committee reports that the city
may sink as much under the weight of paper as under water.

In spite of these problems, Venetians have mastered the art of living well
in their singular city. You'll see them going about their daily affairs in
vaporetti (water buses), aboard the traghetti (traditional gondola ferries)
that ply between the banks of the Grand Canal, in the campi (squares), and
along the calli (narrow Venetian streets). And they are nothing if not
skilled - and remarkably tolerant - in dealing with the veritable armies of
tourists that at during the summer inundate their city."

"Sooner or later you will become lost in Venice, a city of more than 100
separate islands divided by roughly 150 canals and crossed by 400 bridges.
Its narrow and closed streetscapes make it difficult to navigate. To help,
signs all over town indicate the way to the train station, the Rialto
Bridge, and Piazza San Marco, the heart of the city"

"You walk everywhere in Venice, and where you cannot walk you go by water.
While the city has hundreds of bridges, the Grand Canal can only be crossed
on foot at three points: Ponte degli Scalzi, near the train station
(Ferrovia); Ponte di Rialto, at the Rialto; and at Ponte dell'Accademia. As
an alternative, take the traghetti, essentially gondolas that ferry across
the canal. The vaporetti (water buses) that circulate through the city on
set routes are best used to cover long distances."

"BASILICA DI SAN MARCO. An opulent synthesis of Byzantine and Romanesque
styles, Venice's gem is laid out in a Greek-cross floor plan and topped with
five plump domes. It was inaugurated in 1094 as the resting place of St.
Mark the Evangelist. San Marco is famous for its 43,055 sq ft of stunning
mosaics, for the Cappella della Madonna di Nicopeia (Chapel of the Madonna
of Nicopeia), and for the extraordinary Pala d'Oro (Golden Altarpiece), a
dazzling gilded silver screen encrusted with gems. The Museo Marciano offers
a close-up of the four magnificent gilded bronze horses - classical
sculptures that the Venetians took from Constantinople in 1204 - that once
stood outside over the central doorway."

"CAMPANILE. Venice's famous brick bell tower stood across from the Basilica
di San Marco for 1,000 years before it collapsed one morning in 1912,
practically without warning. It was swiftly rebuilt according to the old
plan. The stunning view from the tower on a clear day includes the Lido, the
lagoon, and the mainland as far as the Alps."

"MURANO. Like Venice, Murano is made up of a number of smaller islands
linked by bridges. It is known for its glassworks, which moved here from
Venice in the 13th century because they were a fire hazard."

"PIAZZA SAN MARCO. Pedestrian traffic jams clog the most famous piazza in
Venice and its surrounding byways. Despite the crowds, you'll see why
Napoléon called this "the most beautiful drawing room in all of Europe."
Stand at the far end, facing the Basilica di San Marco. From there, the long
arcaded building on your left is the Procuratie Vecchie, built in the early
16th century as offices and residences for the powerful Procurators of San
Marco. On your right is the Procuratie Nuove, built half a century later in
a more grandiose classical style. The short side of the square opposite the
basilica is the Ala Napoleonica, a wing built by order of Napoléon to
complete the square. Piazza San Marco, Venice.

PONTE DI RIALTO (Rialto Bridge). In the 16th century, after centuries of
failed bridges over the Grand Canal, the Venetian Republic staged a
competition for the best design in stone, and the job went to the
appropriately named Antonio da Ponte. A single arcade, more than 91 ft in
length, supports two rows of shops with windows that open onto the often
crowded central passage. The side paths offer a prime look at one of the
city's most captured views - the Grand Canal full of gondolas and boats in
the background. The surrounding area is a commercial hub, with open-air
vegetable, fruit, and fish markets. Rialto, Venice."

Venetian Masks Unveiled

"Local laws regulating their use appeared as early as 1268, often in a vain
attempt to prohibit the then common practice of masked men disguised as
women entering convents to seduce nuns, and more importantly, to prevent
people from carrying weapons when masked. Even on religious holidays - when
masks were theoretically prohibited - they were commonly used when Venetians
went to the theater, and to spare embarrassment of being seen at the city's
numerous brothels and gambling tables.

It was particularly popular for women going to the theater, and whether worn
by a man or woman, it was always accompanied by a black three-cornered hat
and an ample black cloak. The pretty Gnaga, which resembles a cat's face,
was used by gay men to "meow" compliments and proposals to good-looking
boys.

The most interesting-looking of all of the traditional masks is perhaps the
Medico della Peste (the Plague's Doctor), with an enormous nose shaped like
a bird's beak and surmounted by a pair of glasses. During the terrible
plague of 1630 and 1631, doctors took some protective measures against
infection: they examined patients with a rod to avoid touching contagious
bodies, and wore waxed coats that didn't "absorb" the disease. Inside the
nose of the mask they put medical herbs and fragrances thought to filter and
clean the infected air, while the glasses protected the eyes"

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