25 March: Founding of Venice

It was on 25 March 421 that the City of Venice was founded. Here are ten things you might not know about Venice.

1. Nobody knows for sure when or why Venice was founded, although one theory is that people fled to the islands to escape Germanic invaders. Traditionally, the foundation date was set as the date of the first church, San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto, was founded, ie, at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421 (the Feast of the Annunciation).
2. Venice has 118 islands (at least one of which is man made - Sacca Fisola, built in the Sixties, by adding landfill to a patch of saltmarsh adjacent to Giudecca), 177 canals (including the famous S shaped Grand Canal, which divides the city in two) and 417 bridges (72 of which are private).
3. The city's name comes from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BCE and their name means "beloved", "lovable", or "friendly". A connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the colour 'sea-blue', is also possible.
4. A common sight and tourist attraction in Venice are gondoliers. There are about 400 of them in the city. They must have a licence to operate a gondola, and only three or four new licences are granted each year. A gondola is about 11 meters long and weighs around 600 kilos. The vast majority of gondoliers are men; it was only in 2010 that a woman managed to pass the strict qualification exam and get a licence. Her name is Giorgia Boscolo, a gondlolier's daughter. Not that women encroaching on a traditionally male preserve has been welcomed by existing gondoliers, not even Giorgia's father. “I still think being a gondolier is a man’s job,” he said, “but I am sure that, with experience, Giorgia will be able to do it.”
5. Gondola rides are notoriously expensive, so not the way to navigate the city in general. A small number are used as ferries for foot passengers (traghetti) crossing the Grand Canal at points where there are no bridges. Otherwise there are motorised waterbuses (vaporetti). Cars are not allowed in the city, or even Bicycles. Riding a bike anywhere in the city will result in a fine. Or you can walk, although there are some very narrow streets. There is a street in Venice which is only 53 cm. wide at chest level. It is called Calletta or Ramo Varisco.
6. The foundations of the buildings in Venice rest on submerged wooden piles. The piles penetrate a layer of sand and mud until they reach a much harder layer of compressed clay. Although they have been submerged for centuries, the wooden piles haven't rotted, due to the lack of Oxygen in the Water. The wood is alder, sourced from present day Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro.
7. It is well known that Venice is sinking by up to 2mm every year. This has caused people to move away in droves - the population has halved in the last fifty years. Some believe that by 2030, nobody will live there at all - it will be a ghost town visited by tourists only during the day. Efforts to stop the city from flooding are in process and said to be completed by 2018. The solution currently under evaluation is 78 hollow pontoons on the sea bed at the entrances to the lagoon. They can be filled with air when a high tide is predicted, and block water from coming in from the sea. However, a lot of money has been spent on this, and it may not work. Banning cruise ships has been suggested, too. Although this isn't a popular solution, some cruise lines are voluntarily staying away until a solution is found.
8. Venice was once a separate country. Between the end of the seventh century and 1797, it was the Republic of Venice, with wealth and prestige based on trade, although it did build fortifications to protect its interests. By the time Napoleon came to invade, though, it had declined and only had 11 ships left to try and fight him off. The Venetian dialect has left us with several common words, including arsenal, ciao, ghetto, gondola, lagoon, lido and regatta.
9. Venice is famous for carnival masks. The Carnival of Venice is thought to have started in the year 1162, after a victory in war, when people gathered in San Marco Square to celebrate. It was revived recently in 1979. In the olden days, masks were worn in Venice a lot. From October through to Shrove Tuesday and on Ascension Day, people were allowed to wear masks. Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild. The first mention of masks in Venice dates back the 13th century, when the Great Council made it a crime for masked people to throw scented Eggs, or ovi odoriferi. It was a tradition to fill eggshells with rose water perfume, and for young men to throw them at their friends or at young women they liked. However, there is always that small minority which ruins things - some eggs would be filled with ink or other damaging substances, leading to the practice being banned unless the thrower could be identified.
10. Famous people from Venice include Giovanni Bellini, Renaissance painter, Giacomo Casanova, Marco Polo, Titian and Antonio Vivaldi. Venice is twinned with Yerevan, Armenia, and Dubrovnik, Croatia.

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