Traditions
![[festival in a piazza]](/files/images/campiello.jpg)
How Venetians does Carnival during the Serenissima Republic? In this section we will study this.
The carnival started three days early with dances in the Corte del Fondaco dei Turchi. The Venetians loved dancing and many other places were popular for this activity the most famous of which is le Zattere.
People danced even in the courtyards of convents (permitted only until sunset). Some of these balls weren’t free, as a painting by Gabriel Bella records – depicting a slice of Venetian life and its festivities. In it can be seen young people enjoying themselves dancing, a pipe smoker wearing a tricorn and musicians near the steps bringing joy to the party.
The festival on Carnival Thursday
The festival which used to take place in Piazzetta San Marco, celebrated an important victory of the Serenissima Republic over the patriarch Ulrico, a devotee of the emperor, on account of a bill from Pope Adrian IV giving the whole of Dalmatia to...
The Last day of Carnival
There were many and varied festivities that Venetians were only too keen to participate in during Carnival time. The reckless and bloody bullfights, cart-racing, there never-ending costume parties that were organized for the pleasure of the locals...
The flight of the Turk (or the Angel)
In the mid-1500 during Carnival time a young Turkish acrobat is said to have accomplished something unheard of in Venice. He walked on a rope, with the help of a balancing rod, from a boat moored in front of San Marco square all the way to the...
