The evocative streets of Venice: between masks and escapes of love

February in Venice: a kaleidoscope of colors and emotions

For the Queen of the Adriatic, February has always been a special month, between Carnival and Valentine’s Day.  The Hotel Antica Corte Marchesini is perfectly in line with the air you breathe and the atmosphere you experience in February in this spectacular UNESCO heritage city.

Our historic home immersed in an oasis of tranquility and peace is located in a strategic position and will allow you to reach Venice thanks to the excellent train connection, located just 300 meters from the hotel.

This city is simply beautiful, always, but when it’s dressed up it’s much more so: it’s magical!
The Carnival gives life to a triumph of arts and beauty and has been doing it for an eternity.
The history of this spectacular event seems to date back to 1296 when it is mentioned in an edict of the Senate as a “public holiday”; in fact, as early as 1271, there were artisan shops that were involved in producing masks and manuals on construction techniques.

According to other sources, however, the origin is even more ancient: it seems that the first evidence dates back to a document by Doge Vitale Falier of 1094 in which he speaks of public entertainment and the word “Carnival” is mentioned for the first time.

But why the masks in addition to the costumes?  A bit like in ancient Rome, the idea was to grant the population, and especially the humbler classes, a short period dedicated entirely to entertainment and, thanks to disguises, class differences and any social differences disappeared.
In this period of celebration everyone could participate and become whoever they wanted within the immense stage into which the city was transformed.

The evolution of Venice masks: from fun to profession

At the Venice Carnival people came and still are projected into a new world, made up of different eras, fiction and reality, in a kaleidoscope of colors that cannot help but bewitch any tourist who finds himself at the center of this living masterpiece.

Among the most common masks there is the “Bauta”, a disguise for both women and men consisting of a black cloak and a tricorn of the same color on a white face. The “Moretta”, also known as “Servetta muta”, was widely used by women because the velvet mask with hat and veil was supported by a button held in the mouth which, consequently, prevented the wearer from speaking. Along with these, even the masks of the Commedia dell’Arte, such as Arlecchino, Pantalone and Colombina, are still visible today at the Venice Carnival.

Over time, that of costumes became a real art: The so-called “Mascareri”, artisans who made masks of ever richer and more sophisticated shapes and patterns, were officially recognized as a profession with a statute dated April 10^th , 1436, preserved in the State Archives of Venice.

The Venice Carnival tradition have been handed down over the centuries

There are many elements that distinguish this festival and that we can find in the eighteenth century as today. It was in the eighteenth century that Venice Carnival reached its maximum splendor, becoming prestigious throughout Europe of the time. San Marco square has always been the nerve center of the event.
Here is held the traditional and exciting the “Angel’s Flight ” which officially opens the celebrations and which began in the mid-sixteenth century when a young Turkish tightrope walker managed to get to the top of the bell tower in the square, walking on a very long rope with only aid of a barbell.

San Marco square is also the point of arrival of another famous anniversary, the “Festa delle Marie”, which recalls an event of 942 when, during a popular festival, Trieste or Narentan pirates kidnapped young Venetian women. Today the liberation of the kidnapped young women is remembered and in the square the most beautiful of the twelve “Marie ” is still proclaimed, the one who the following year will make the famous Angel’s Flight.

Between theatrical performances, concerts, tastings, costume parades, competitions, parties, choreography and circus-theater shows, the Venice carnival is a showcase of art, imagination and creativity that involves all the senses and from which you leave inebriated, with the desire to return and relive such strong emotions.