Living On An Island: Venice

Direct flights from London to Venice take about 2 hours.

If you're a morning person, that makes it easy to get up reeeeealllly early in London and then enjoy a morning coffee in Venice.

Because of its location in the Venetian lagoon off the Adriatic Sea, Venice was an affluent port city of merchants, importers and sailors.

What I didn't know before, was that at one time, Venice was a cultural hub in Europe. (Once again, I ask myself - did I sleep through school?)

It was never a kingdom, but instead was an independent state with elected Doges who were responsible to the Senate. Power resided in the Doges Palace.

At one time, one of the Doges thought it was a good idea to make Venice a kingdom.

As fate would have it, he is the one and only Doge that was ever beheaded.

Coincidence?

I would assume the beheading was a very strong statement that deterred any future Doges from ever suggesting it again.

The Doges and Senate were very serious about keeping law and order, but more significantly, collecting their fair share of taxes.

The early "Whistle Blowers" were able to slip their "tips" on tax dodgers, or other undesirable activities, into these slots. (Perhaps sometimes their "tips" were to settle old scores and grievances?) Guilty parties were then sent to the inescapable Dodges Palace jail.

The most famous Doges Palace prisoner was Casanova. (Perhaps he had a few too many dalliances with married woman that landed him in jail?)

Before entering the jail, prisoners would have passed over the famous Bridge of Sighs, where they had their last view of Venice.

Casanova also has the notorious distinction of being the only prisoner to have ever escaped from the Doges Palace jail.

The Doges Palace is in St Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco), along with St Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco).

The Basilica, with its marble pillars, mosaics and statues, bears a resemblance to former treasures that were in Constantinople (Budapest).

That would be because the treasures had been in Constantinople, before they were plundered in victory and brought to Venice.

These 8 horses were also stolen from Constantinople.

Then Napoleon stole the horses from Venice and took them to France.

They then came back to Venice, where they are currently being restored.

It gives a whole new meaning to the term "recycling".

This mural, made from stolen mosaics from Constantinople, depicts the story St Marco's remains being smuggled to Venice in a pork basket to evade detection.

The ceilings and walls in the Basilica are covered in plundered mosaics.

During the cold winters, the thriving port city slowed down as the ships were unable to sail.

This provided a long period of idle time to an affluent population - basically 6 months of partying and debauchery with an abundance of elaborate masquerade parties in the upper classes' social scene.

Men's masks had square corners that could be held in place by their hats. They were big so that the men could still eat, drink and smoke. The masks also muffled their voices, adding to the mystery, anonymity and allure of their flirtations.

The women's masks had buttons inside them. The buttons were used to hold the mask in place - where the women held the buttons firmly between their teeth - making conversation impossible. No comment from me, I am biting my button too firmly!

A few interesting tidbits from history....

Originally the islands were smaller and the canals were wider
The first woman in the world to earn a University degree was Elena Piscopia in Venice in the late 1500's
Women were allowed to own property and write a will in the late 1500's
Courtesans were wealthy and respected
Noble married women wore chastity belts when their husbands went away
Women wore hats to shade their faces. The tops of the hats were open to bleach their hair (which was soaked in salt water and goat or horse urine.)

I KNOW they never taught us these things in school!

From Venice we took a boat to several small islands: