One month after my last post, I've finally managed to work my way through the thousands (yes, I said thousands) of pictures I took of MY favorite place in Italy. How ironic is it out of our four Italian cities the one city I was the least excited about turns out to be my favorite: Venice. If you had asked me prior to the trip to name my favorite, I would have said, Florence, the city of art, of course.
My introduction to Venice was shaky. I had to walk, hobbling with my new 'cane', the length of a long, long, long train. Then, I had to stand on the Venetian vaporetto (water bus) for an interminable time in a pretty significant amount of sciatic pain as the boat bumped and lurched from stop to stop. Limping into the hotel, the manager took one look at me and said, "I think you need a place closer to the elevator, and I'm upgrading you to a suite." The suite turned out to have a second bathroom and a sitting room which became our favorite place to drink a few glasses of Chianti between touring and dinner. (No one in Venice eats dinner prior to 7pm - which is the Venetian equivalent of a senior citizen 5pm Early Bird.) Then, miraculously, I woke up the first morning in Venice with my back and leg pain significantly reduced.
I would recommend you see Venice in the depths of winter. It's chilly, and I wouldn't recommend a gondola ride, but what is not present are 20 million tourists overwhelming not only every attraction, but every street, restaurant, and shop. Currently, there are only 55,000 people living in Venice all working in serving the tourists. They are losing population at the rate of over 1000 people every year. Normal services are almost impossible to find, and for more than half the year it's the worst possible congestion you can imagine. This place is slowly becoming the Disneyland of Italy with turnstiles (installed in April of 2018) to reduce the number of visitors allowed during the peak season. The problems of too many visitors are interlocking: Too many gigantic cruise ships, too many tour groups from the 'mainland', and too many 'day trippers' from Italy.
The most famous attraction in Venice, the St. Mark's Basilica and Piazza is wall to wall bodies in June, but here's what it looks like in December. Even so, we were 'herded' through the Basilica - well, except in the parts you had to pay extra Euros for - like touring the creepy Reliquary Room.
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| Amazing St Mark's Basilica in the background |
There is a funny story about the Basilica which took generations to build. The legend says, the night before the Basilica was to be officially consecrated and St. Mark's bones re-interred under the altar, (they dug him up while construction was going on); the Doge (ruler) of Venice was told St. Mark's bones had been lost. I would have hated to have been that messenger! Anyway, that night, the Doge had a dream in which he was led to the forgotten resting place of St. Mark, and lo and behold, when he checked there on the consecration day - there were St. Mark's bones! Nothing like a little manufactured divine intervention. The "discovered" bones are the ones interred under the altar.
This Basilica is totally unique. The interior of the domes are covered in gold mosaic tiles. We saw nothing else like this in any of the other three major Basilicas we toured.
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| This is a 'bootleg' pictures since there was a sign that said 'NO PHOTOS'. |
You could stand and study the exterior of the basilica for hours and still not see everything. The intricate detail in the stone is one of a kind. Above each entrance to the Basilica is a half dome done in lavish mosaic, each different.
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| The seagull was a total accident |
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| The painting is the story of Adam and Eve |
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| The Lion of St. Mark is the symbol of Venice & is everywhere including atop two flagpoles directly in front of the Basilica |
The other main element to the Basilica complex is the Bell Tower even though the actual bell which is rung is outside and atop a building parallel to the Basilica. A weather vane which just happens to be the Arch Angel Gabriel stands on top of the Bell Tower holding a lily with three flowers: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit - a very common Medieval and Renaissance symbol of the trinity. (The odd silver thing is a lightening rod.) This bell tower is a reconstruction since the originally reconstructed tower collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt in 1912.
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| Archangel Gabriel weather vane |
We stayed in the center of the other three cities we visited in Italy knowing we were staying in the ancient center of one city (Rome), and the Medieval center of another (Florence), and the commercial center of the third (Milan). We knew there was a modern city surrounding us which, as tourists, we chose to ignore.
However, Venice has been the same since Medieval times. ALL the buildings are hundreds of years old. The last building boom was in the mid 1600's. We saw a map from the 17th century of Venice, and all the buildings are still standing - at least their facades are.
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| The winding snakelike waterway is the Grand Canal |
The close up map below shows the'tip' of Venice. I am standing on that tip of land in the center of the map.
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| This map is pre-steam since all the ships still have sails. Venice maintained a robust Navy to defend itself. |
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| Behind me is the reconstructed St. Mark's Bell Tower (tiny Archangel Gabriel weather vane on top) and the domes of the St. Mark's Basilica |
St. Mark's Piazza is anchored on one end by the Basilica and Bell Tower and on the other end by the historical museum of Venice. The Basilica as well as many Venetian buildings show the influence of the Orient since this town was the trade crossroads between the East and the West for hundreds of years. Venice was rich, influential, and a strong city state in Italy. Their location happened because of the fall of the Roman Empire over a period of 300 years (from 200 A.D. to 500 A.D.).
As Rome became more chaotic and as that chaos extended over most of Italy, a group of people retreated to this swampy land and founded a community. Water has always been a deterrent to invasion and conquest, and the Venetians used this to their advantage. As early as 600 A.D., they were minting coins, and beginning to take advantage of their strategic location for trade. The landscape didn't lend itself to roads, so a canal system formed off the snakelike navigable Grand Canal. All of Venice is crisscrossed with tiny waterways most a little wider than two powerboats side by side.
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| The Rialto Bridge is directly behind us |
Our hotel, the pink building below, was located at the San Angelo Vaporetto stop which made it convenient to get around. By sheer luck, we managed to obtain two seven day unlimited vaporetto tickets for the price of two singles. If you only look at one set of pictures, choose the folder of the views of Venice from the vaparetto boats. You can hire a vaparetto taxi for a one time ride for about 10 times the price of a single vaparreto ticket. You can also hire a ride in a historic gondola dodging the motorized traffic. (In December, this seemed extremely unattractive since they are open air. It was frigidly cold on the water, and we were seeing the same views via the 'water bus'.)
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| We are on a Vaparetto waiting to dock at our stop. Pictured is another Vaparetto boat going the opposite direction docked at our stop. |
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Gondolier headed back to his 'parking place'.
Building covered with white screen is being rehabbed. |
There are two famous bridges in Venice. One is the Bridge of Sighs. It's the bridge medieval and renaissance prisoners crossed into prison after their sentences were declared by the Doge of Venice
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| The Bridge of Sighs - looks out over the Grand Canal, but doesn't cross it. |
The most famous bridge is the Rialto Bridge built in only three years with construction starting in 1588. It was designed to replace various pontoon bridges and other temporary structures and to ease congestion in the most crowded part of Venice. I never tired of seeing this bridge as we rode the Vaporetto up and down the Grand Canal. We crossed under it from both sides several times.
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| I took this picture leaning out over the side of the Vaparetto (with Drake valiantly hanging onto me) as we approached it to cross under. |
The third bridge, not nearly as picturesque, was completed in 1932. It's wood reinforced with steel. Our hotel was midway between these two bridges. The view from the Accademia Bridge is iconic.
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| View from the Accademia Bridge - named because the Accademia Museum is at the foot of one end of the bridge |
Naturally, I saw tons of art here since we toured several musuems. There is actually a 'Guggenheim' museum here since this was the post WWII home of Peggy Guggenheim, daughter of the famous guy who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build the Manhattan Guggenheim Modern Art Museum. We also toured the most beautiful collection of oriental art I've ever seen. There's an entire gymnasium sized room of gold dusted lacquer which they only open for 20 minutes at a time.
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| This is a black lacquer box dusted with real gold dust while the lacquer is wet in some process which is long and tedious. Well worth it, though |
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful Kandinsky painting in the Ca De Pessaro Museum.
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| I'm wearing a piece of Murano glass jewelry I bought in Venice |
Venice is filled with Murano glass. Murano Island, an hour boat ride off the main part of Venice, and it is the manufacturing center for Murano glass. (duh) Believe me, you didn't have to carve out the half day to go to the factory, there were many, many examples everywhere of Murano glass from jewelry to chandeliers.
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| This one hangs in the Correr Museum |
Undoubtedly, one of the most unusual things we saw in Venice was at the Palazzo Zaguri. There was an exhibition there of tapestry. This wasn't your 17th century stuff; this was the revitalization of an entire industry post WWII. These people used a place which had produced tapestries for hundreds of years, and started the weavers weaving new designs which they sold initially to cruise ships. Here's an example
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| This is actually a tapestry |
As fascinating at the tapestries were, I was enthralled by a 1960's 'ship's news' bulletin. We've 'cruised' since the mid 1970's when they actually printed a newsletter of the events of the day. Here's a bulletin from one of the first ships to buy the new tapestries being produced in Italy.
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| Yeah, I know, part of me wants to be on this ship |
So, why was Venice my favorite? Hard to explain. The experience of the vaparetto. The beautiful art. The amazing architecture. It was an impactful experience which you can't have anywhere else in the world. I was also hyper aware that the Venice of hundreds of years is vanishing due to the rising oceans. Repeated flooding is becoming a routine occurrence. I was very grateful we could see this place before it vanishes.
Lastly, we saw an amazing Renaissance artist: Tintoretto was the most influential painter of the late Renaissance and early Baroque period. He painted massive canvases, largely of religious scenes, in which the people could have stepped down and started talking to you. His use of light and color was and still is unprecedented. We are lucky to see so many of his famous works collected together to celebrate his 500th birthday. Venetian churches and museums hold a multitude of his work. Here's a map which locates who in Venice has a Tintoretto. (Ironically, you can also locate our hotel - we are the white box right next to Palazzo Fortuny) If you are interested in seeing some Tintoretto, look at the pictures under the Galleria Accademia (the major Venetian painting collection).
OK - pictures: There are way, way too many. I apologize, but there were so many photographic opportunities. Pick and choose - whiz through, but if you only pick one or two - look at the vaparetto pictures and the St. Mark's pictures.
Venice via the Vaparetto
St. Mark's Piazza & LaSalute
Ca di Pesarro (Oriental Art & Modern Art) - golden lacquer
Ca di Oro (Renaissance Art - lots of sculpture)
Galleria Accademia (Tintoretto painting exhibition)
Palazzo Zaguri (Modern tapestries)
Palazzo Ducale & Santa Maria Dei Gloriosa dei Frari Church (Decorative arts & the most beautiful 500 year old church)
Ca' Rozonica - Decorative Arts
Museum Correr - Venetian history (great exhibition on the impact of printing)
Peggy Guggenheim - Modern Art
