No.Don’t take the Carnival away from the Venetians. Historically it happened for a period of two centuries, from 1797 to 1979 with the Napoleonic occupation and the fall of the Serenissima, the celebrations for the Carnival were interrupted for fear of popular unrest or rebellions. The Venetians have never forgotten or forgotten it. It took a global pandemic to happen again, in difficult 2020.
This is because Carnival is more than a party for Venicea period in which to experience a “world upside down“, As the Russian scholar Michail Bachtin wrote:“ Carnival is a sort of social rebalancer, which allows the temporary abolition of hierarchical relations and authority ”.
Carnival in Venice is different
Preparations for the Carnival in the specialized shop in Ca ‘Del Sol. (Photo by Awakening / Getty Images)
However, Carnival is also a late winter party, a passage towards spring, the critical moment when nature awakens. The masks originally represented the infernal beings, the spirits, the dead, that is, the forces linked to the subsoil that can favor the awakening of the earth. A sort of fertility rite: without the masks the year cannot be auspicious.
In the eighteenth century the Venice Carnival acquires international resonance and the disguise is the very essence of the party, where masks and costumes become indispensable tools to create the atmosphere dedicated to transgression, lightheartedness, lightness and fun. The streets, the fields, the calli become one big stage where everything seems to become possible for the guarantee of total anonymity.
The Grand Canal among the most romantic attractions in the world
A mask known and used only in Venice is the Bauta, consisting of a black cloak or tabard, a black tricorn on a white face. In fact, the particular shape of the mask with the widened and protruding upper lip, made it possible to eat and drink without having to remove it, while the space for the nose, very narrow, made it possible to “mask” even the voice.
It is no coincidence that the splendid one wore it Heath Ledger in the latest film adaptation of Casanova, legendary character and of the Carnival. According to a recent study by the research team of WeThrift who documented the most romantic tourist attractions in the world, the Grand Canal of Venice is at the top of the list.
So what are you waiting for to take a trip to Venice on the occasion of a Carnival that will be a little less crowded as there will be a lack of many international tourists? Here are the unmissable addresses where to try the typical cuisine or to stay.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED