Life, customs and ways of doing things
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Ink and Rat Poison
Is there a connection between writing ink and rat poison, as some images from the 1700s seem to indicate?
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Daily life and customs
Venice was a buzzing city, full of people and activity, and of course, the Venetian had their particular ways of doing things in their daily lives. Making the city work Food and drink Social relations Business and trade Crime and punishment The Venetian language
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Feasts, celebrations and ceremonial
The Republic of Venice had its feasts and celebrations like any other state, except most of these traditions are now long gone and very often entirely forgotten.
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Glossary — clothing
Clothing has its own vocabulary, which often makes reading and translating old texts challenging for the uninitiated.
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Slaves in Venice
Slavery was not a large part of Venetian culture or Venetian history, but there were slaves in Venice.
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Scuole Grandi
The Scuole Grandi — or the Great Schools — were Venetian medieval charities which due to their wealth became important institutions
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Prostitution in Venice
In ancient Venice prostitution was considered a necessary evil, where more harm would come from a ban than from a de facto acceptance
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Festa delle Marie
The “Festa delle Marie” celebrating the liberation of brides abducted by pirates, was an important event in medieval Venice.
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Carnival in Venice
The Venetian Carnival was celebrated for centuries, until the end of the Republic. The modern carnival is only superficially similar.
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Venice rhymes with Wine
Wine is all over in Venice, and always has been