Venice Carnival Starts
The Venice Carnival is an annual celebration that takes place for about ten days leading up to Lent, culminating on Shrove Tuesday. This vibrant festival has roots dating back to the 12th century, originally emerging after a significant military victory, and became a highlight of Venetian culture as the city prospered during the Renaissance. Historically, the carnival involved elaborate festivities in St. Mark's Square, featuring a diverse array of participants, including performers, vendors, and elegantly masked revelers. Masks became a popular symbol of the event, allowing attendees to enjoy anonymity while participating in the celebrations.
The carnival experienced a decline after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 and was not celebrated for many years. However, in 1979, efforts to revive the carnival were successful, leading to its reintroduction in 1980. Today, the Venice Carnival attracts visitors from around the globe, who come to experience its rich traditions, including fireworks, masked balls, and lively street performances. The festival continues to be a testament to Venice's cultural heritage and its enduring spirit of celebration.
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Venice Carnival Starts
Venice Carnival Starts
For ten days or so prior to Lent, ending on Shrove Tuesday, the city of Venice, Italy, celebrates its annual carnival. It is an ancient festival revived in the late twentieth century.
Founded by refugees fleeing Attila the Hun in the fifth century a.d., Venice became a republic under a leader called a doge. Over the centuries the city prospered, thanks to its strategic location on the sea lanes between Western Europe on one hand and the Byzantine and Muslim empires on the other. The Venetians controlled the lucrative commerce in silks, spices, and other commodities from Asia, acquiring these precious goods through trading contacts in the eastern Mediterranean and reselling them in the West. By the time of the Renaissance, Venice was a significant European economic and military power.
Venetian prosperity manifested itself in several ways. Splendid cathedrals and public buildings sprang up, works of art were created, and a network of canals and bridges produced a city like no other, uniquely adapted to its watery environment. The people of Venice also had the disposable income to sponsor public festivities and celebrations. One such event was the carnival, which according to historical records first occurred on or about 1162 after a victory against a rival Italian city-state. A massive celebration was held in Venice's famous St. Mark's Square and it became an annual tradition, although at first it was celebrated from December 26 intermittently until Shrove Tuesday. The carnival was somewhat like the festival known elsewhere as Mardi Gras: The main square and other places in the city would be filled with elegant partygoers, workmen on holiday, actors, jugglers, magicians, food vendors, musicians, dancers, gamblers, thieves, and courtesans. It became popular to wear fanciful and elaborate masks for the event, both as a means of making a fashion statement and as a way of enjoying the festivities while remaining safely anonymous.
Once traders from Portugal, Spain, Holland, and eventually Britain discovered their own ocean routes to Asia, Venice entered into a period of decline. In 1797 it was conquered by the French under Napoléon Bonaparte, and the ancient Venetian Republic was destroyed. So was the annual observance of the carnival, which was not resumed even after Napoléon's fall from power. The event fell into obscurity until 1979, when some Venetian civic associations with the encouragement of municipal authorities decided to revive the carnival. The carnival recommenced in 1980 and has been held ever since, growing in popularity each year. In the twenty-first century it attracts visitors from many countries, drawn by such attractions as fireworks and specially decorated boats along the canals and waterways, masked balls, reenactments of ancient games, and nonstop dancing, music, and partying.
Bibliography
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"The Insider's Guide to Carnevale Di Venezia 2020." The Venice Insider, 12 Jan. 2020, www.theveniceinsider.com/insiders-guide-carnevale-venezia/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2020.
Wang, Ione. "A Breif History of the Carnival of Venice." Culture Trip, 31 May 2017, theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-carnival-of-venice/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2020.
"Why Venice Started Its Carnival? A Clue: The Goal Was Not to Party." Venezia Autentica, veneziaautentica.com/venice-carnival-history. Accessed 8 Apr. 2020.