The writings on this site are split into several categories, but they’re all listed here together, chronologically, newest first.
The categories are Articles, Blog posts, Venetian Stories (newsletters), Lists and translations from Curiosità Veneziane.
-
The past in the present
In Venice past and present is intertwined, for the residents as much as for the tourists. It is one of the great attractions of Venice.
-
Why rainwater?
The Venetians relied mostly on rainwater for their water supply, because other sources were unaccessible or unacceptable
-
Festa del Redentore
The Festa del Redentore has been celebrated in Venice since 1577, to mark the end of the disastrous plague epidemic of 1575-77.
-
Well, actually
Venice has been described as a city on water without water – still there’s a well in every square and every courtyard
-
Arzanà – Arsenale – Arsenal
The word arsenal came to Europe from Arabic through the Venetian language – from the original meaning of a workplace it became a shipyard
-
A Chronology of the Lazzaretto Nuovo
A chronology of the Lazzaretto Nuovo, the first permanent quarantine station for the bubonic plague in the world, founded in 1468 by the Republic of Venice.
-
Lazzaretto Nuovo – the first quarantine station
The quarantine station on Lazzaretto Nuovo was for three centuries one of the main Venetian defences against the black plague.
-
Why did it take so long?
It took the Venetians almost a century to do something efficient about the black plague – but we haven’t fared much better with climate change.
-
Why is Venice a pedestrian city?
In Venice everybody walks, but why has Venice become a pedestrian city, when it is constructed around canals and boats.
-
Fanti da Mar – a historical re-enactment
The ‘fanti da mar’ were a corps of naval infantry of the Republic of Venice. Today a group of enthusiasts re-enact the ‘fanti da mar’.