Venice - Italy - What is the history of the Venice Carnival? How come back the origins and the first documents? Here are all the history of the Venice Carnival told in 6 stages, with curiosity and the most famous masks

What is the history of the Venice Carnival? How come back the origins and the first documents? Here are all the history of the Venice Carnival told in 6 stages, with curiosity and the most famous masks

Every year Venice is home to one of the top 10 carnivals in the world. The canals, the villas, the streets of the Serenissima are invaded by people from all over Europe, who want to experience the magic of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, among elaborate costumes and sumptuous masked balls. Do you also want to know everything about the Venice Carnival? Here is the history, the origins and the most famous masks, with historical information and curiosities.

1. The first documents
   The first historical traces of the Venice Carnival date back to 1094, regarding the public celebrations preceding the period of Lent. Then the current Doge was Vitale Falier.
   But the first official documents are in 1296, when the Senate of the Republic declares the last day of Lent as a holiday.

2. Ancestral roots
   In reality it is necessary to go much further back in time, precisely in the pagan rituals of the transition from winter to spring, or to the Dionysian cults, or even to the Latin Saturnalia. The juice, after all, is the same: to grant the humble classes the illusion of becoming similar to the nobles, to the powerful, and to be able to publicly proclaim them while remaining unpunished.

3.The celebrations passed to history
Some celebrations for the Venice carnival have remained engraved in history, largely due to the coincidence with important historical events.

• It is the case of 1571, with a parade of allegorical floats to symbolize the battle of Lepanto;
• different outlines in 1664, with a grandiose masked party and pompous parades for the wedding at the Cornaro house;
• in 1679 the Duke of Mantua organized a procession with Indians, Turks and black fighters who defied 6 monsters.

1. The Venetian carnivals of the eighteenth century
   We are in the Venice of Giacomo Casanova, in the city that becomes the temple of pleasure, a place where we do not oppose any more resistance to temptation. The city becomes the hub of European entertainment, and finds its climax in the carnival.

2. The metamorphosis of the nineteenth century
   The romantic current can not but flourish in the most beautiful city in the world, bringing with it all those characteristics that enshrine a clear caesura with the previous period. From Casanova we go to exponents like Princess Sissi, Ugo Foscolo, Lord Byron, ...

3. From rebirth to the present day
   After a period of decline, in 1979 the Venice Carnival resurrected, maintaining the characteristics that still make it an event of global proportions, which attracts visitors from all over the globe.