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*** REPORTAGE *** _________________ Carnival in Venice |
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The Carnival of Venice is certainly the best known, because of the fascination that it exercises and its spirit that still holds, more than 900 years after the first document referring to this notorious event was written. In fact, the origins of the Carnival of Venice are ancient. Suffice to think that the first testimony of the carnival goes back to a document of the Doge in 1094, where the word “carnival” is cited for the first time. In the period between December 26 and Ashes Wednesday the citizens of Venice gathered in the streets wearing masks and multicolor costumes, even if often licenses were granted so that the celebration could begin already on the first of October. The tradition was interrupted in the center of Venice during the French and the Austrian dominations for fear of rebellions of the population and only in the year 1979 some citizens and civic associations engaged in order to revive the Carnival. Since then the Carnival has become the main tourist event in Venice and thousands of people from all over the world reach the streets and the lagoon to celebrate the Carnival in a way unique in the world for the variety of figures and colors. Every year is characterized by a main theme, a leading subject developed in many ways, from the mostly cultural one to the merely spectacular one. The most important days of the Venetian carnival are always and on fat Thursday and Mardi Gras. The corner stone of the celebration is in Saint Mark Square. |
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