Pellestrina in Venice

22 May 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union Reading Time:  5 minutes

© panoramio.com - ildirettore/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – ildirettore/cc-by-3.0

Pellestrina is an island in northern Italy, forming a barrier between the southern Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, lying south west of the Lido. The island is 11 kilometres (7 miles) long and has since the eighteenth century been bounded to its seaward side by large embankments. There are four main villages: San Pietro in Volta, Porto Secco, Sant’ Antonio di Pellestrina and Pellestrina, known for their colourfully-painted houses.   read more…

Theme Week Venice – Bridge of Sighs

8 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Didier Descouens/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Didier Descouens/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace. It was designed by Antonio Contino, whose uncle Antonio da Ponte designed the Rialto Bridge, and it was built in 1600.   read more…

Theme Week Venice – The Gheto di Venezia

10 January 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

Campo de Gheto Novo © Didier Descouens/cc-by-sa-4.0

Campo de Gheto Novo © Didier Descouens/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were compelled to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516 and is the oldest Jewish ghetto in the world. It was not the first time that Jews in Venice were compelled to live in a segregated area of the city. In 1797 the French army of Italy, commanded by the 28-year-old General Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Venice, dissolved the Venetian republic, and ended the ghetto’s separation from the city. In the 19th century, the ghetto was renamed the Contrada dell’unione. The Ghetto is an area of the Cannaregio sestiere of Venice, divided into the Ghetto Nuovo (“New Ghetto”), and the adjacent Ghetto Vecchio (“Old Ghetto”). These names of the ghetto sections are misleading, as they refer to an older and newer site at the time of their use by the foundries: in terms of Jewish residence, the Ghetto Nuovo is actually older than the Ghetto Vecchio.   read more…

Theme Week Venice – Lido di Venezia

9 December 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  6 minutes

Lido vaporetto terminal © Gary Houston

Lido vaporetto terminal © Gary Houston

The Lido – or Venice Lido (Lido di Venezia) – is an 11-kilometre (7-mile) long sandbar in Venice, northern Italy; it is home to about 20,000 residents. The sandbar form a barrier between the Adriatic Sea and the Venetian Lagoon. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September. Venezia Lido, a public airport suitable for smaller aircraft, is found on the NE end of Lido di Venezia. It has a 1000 m grass runway. Lido developed in the 19th century to the fashionable seaside resort with luxurious hotels.   read more…

Theme Week Venice – The Arsenal

5 December 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

The gate Ingresso all'Acqua © Janericloebe

The gate Ingresso all’Acqua © Janericloebe

The Venetian Arsenal was a complex of state-owned shipyards and armories clustered together in Venice in northern Italy. It was responsible for the bulk of Venice’s naval power during the middle part of the second millennium AD. It was also the first mass production complex using standardized and interchangeable parts. Construction of the Arsenal began around 1104, during Venice’s republican era. It became the largest industrial complex in Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution, spanning an area of about 45 ha (110 acres), or about fifteen percent of Venice. Surrounded by a 2 mi (3.2 km) rampart, laborers and shipbuilders regularly worked within the Arsenal, building ships that sailed from the city’s port. With high walls shielding the Arsenal from public view and guards protecting its perimeter, different areas of the Arsenal each produced a particular prefabricated ship part or other maritime implement, such as munitions, rope, and rigging. These parts could then be assembled into a ship in as little as one day. An exclusive forest owned by the Arsenal navy, in the Montello hills area of Veneto, provided the Arsenal’s wood supply.   read more…

Theme Week Venice, Queen of the Adriatic Sea

30 July 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, European Union, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

Venice Collage © DaniDF1995

Venice Collage © DaniDF1995

Venice is a city in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry, and is the capital of the region Veneto, with a population of about 270,660 (census estimate 30 April 2009). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).   read more…

Theme Week Venice – La Dolce Vita

15 November 2010 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Environment Reading Time:  5 minutes

© venedig.com

© venedig.com

What looks like a somewhat bizarre fashion show is actually the Carnevale di Venezia with its over 900 years old history. Today however, is almost exclusively only for the entertainment of the countless tourists from all over the world and takes place in the historic city centre.   read more…

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