[Travel Notes] Strolling through Venice

I am a mask addict, so I knew about the existence of Venice when I was very young. Those exquisite masks, gorgeous costumes, and the stories behind each mask are what attracted me. I took the first step on the boat to Venice. land, the camera in my hand has never stopped. But looking at the people traveling with us, we can tell that the weather is not good.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and an important port on the northwest coast of the Adriatic Sea. Population: 343,000 (statistics show that Venice’s permanent population was 174,000 in 1957, while the total resident population just announced in October 2009 was less than 60,000, reaching a historical low). It is mainly built on a shallow beach 4 kilometers offshore, with an average water depth of 1.5 meters. It is connected to the land by railways, roads and bridges. It is composed of 118 small islands, connected by 177 waterways and 401 bridges, and connected by boats. It is known as the "Water City", "Hundred Island City" and "Bridge City".

University of Architecture in Venice (Università IUAV di Venezia), referred to as IUAV, is located in the municipality of Venice, the capital of the Veneto region in Italy. It is an institution of higher learning founded in 1926 and focuses on architectural research.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute is a masterpiece of Venetian Baroque architecture. When the Black Death was raging in 1630, the government of the Republic decided to build this church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was designed by the famous designer Baldassare Longner and was officially completed in 1687. Soft decoration designers should be familiar with this church.

You can see the clock tower on the square from a distance.

There is a very famous Bridge of Sighs that connects the Governor's Palace and the dungeon next to it. The shape of the Bridge of Sighs is in the early Baroque style. The bridge is like a house, covered with a dome on the upper part, and is very closed. There are only two small windows on the side facing the canal. It is said that this "Bridge of Sighs" has no original name because prisoners in the Right Bank Prison have to pass through this bridge to the execution chamber when they are being executed. The prisoners can use the guardrails on the bridge to see their relatives for the last time. On the one hand, relatives under the bridge often heard the sighs of prisoners. Later, the poet Byron was impressed by this, so he named the bridge "Bridge of Sighs". I always feel that in China, this is clearly the Naihe Bridge. After crossing the bridge, the yin and yang are separated.

Piazza San Marco is both the center of Venice and the gathering place for tourists. Of course, it is also a required question in architecture. Write down the floor plan and write down the advantages of the square design.

Let’s talk about the design advantages first. Compared with many squares today, this is very small. It may have been considered a big square in the Middle Ages. Its trapezoidal plane, when viewed from the clock tower, the original size of the near and far is blurred by others. After shrinking, it feels 100 meters longer than it actually is. In addition, the neat array formed by the city halls and arched corridors on both sides further enhances its visual length. It is actually about 170 meters long, about 80 meters wide on the east side, and about 55 meters wide on the west side.

Whether it is a square, a church, or even a bell tower, all are named St. Mark. So who is St. Mark? The chief disciple of Jesus was St. Peter, and St. Mark was the eldest disciple of St. Peter. With this relationship, it is not difficult to understand why St. Mark became the patron saint of Venice, because he was older than the former pope. Theodore carries more weight.

The square is billed as the world's largest roofless marble living room and is surrounded by high-end shops and famous cafes. Thousands of peace doves shuttle among the crowds in the square, flying overhead from time to time. As long as you hold some food in your hand, they will affectionately land on your shoulders or hands and rush to peck at it.

The main square and church were built in 829 AD in memory of Mark, the disciple of Jesus who wrote the Gospel of Mark. Therefore, the square and church are named after Mark.

There is also a clock tower (Torre dell' Orologio) on the right side of the church, built in the 15th century, with an interesting line of Latin engraved on it: "I only count happy times." The appearance of this clock, in addition to displaying time, , you can also see the seasons, the movement of the moon and the sun on the ecliptic. It looks like the clock that counts Athena's life in the Golden Zodiac Chapter of "Saint Seiya".

Also known as the Duke's Palace of Venice. It was built in the 9th century and belongs to European medieval Gothic architecture. Due to the close cultural trade between Venice and the Islamic countries in the eastern Mediterranean at that time, a large number of Arabs settled in Venice, so the mat pattern on the facade of the Doge's Palace was obviously influenced by Islamic architecture. The center and symbol of Frankfurt, it was the market and trade fair in the Middle Ages.

In 828, two wealthy Venetian businessmen, under the instruction of the then governor, successfully stole the mummy of St. Mark from Alexandria, hid it under layers of meat products, transported it back to Venice, and stored it in St. Mark's Palace. But under the great altar of the cathedral. Since then, Saint Mark has become the patron saint of Venice. His symbol is a winged lion. From then on, Venice was full of lions. At the entrance of St. Mark's Square, there are two tall columns. On the east column stands a bronze lion with wings spread, which is the flying lion, the emblem of Venice. The flying lion's left front paw is holding a holy book, on which is written the Catholic edict in Latin: "My messenger Mark, rest in peace there!" At a glance, St. Mark and him are indispensable in the Doge's Palace. lion. However, if you look closely, you will find that there are far more lions in Venice than St. Mark. The image of the flying lion has been worshiped by Venetians for a long time and is an image of a local god. The English information on the Internet confirmed my guess that the Venetian flying lion existed in BC.

Known as "the most beautiful living room in Europe", Piazza San Marco was first built in the 9th century. At that time, it was just a small square in front of St. Mark's Cathedral. In 828, two Venetian merchants smuggled the remains of Saint Mark from Alexandria, Egypt, to Venice. In the same year, they built a church for Saint Mark. The tomb of Saint Mark is located on the golden altar of the church (Pala d' Oro), so the cathedral was named after St. Mark, and the square in front of the cathedral was also named "Piazza San Marco".

The cathedral is a combination of Eastern Byzantine art, ancient Roman art, medieval Gothic art and Renaissance art. It is harmoniously combined and coordinated. The cathedral has five large round roofs, which are typical Eastern Byzantine art, but it is dedicated to a Western saint. There are 400 marble pillars inside and outside the cathedral, and a mosaic covering an area of ​​4,000 square meters inside and outside. Thousands of people come from all over the world to admire the cathedral every day.

The online picture is beautiful, but yes, I just didn’t catch the right time. When I went there, the church was under renovation and I couldn’t see the whole building.

You are not allowed to take pictures inside St. Mark's Church, you can only take pictures outside, so there is only one picture of the roof and the ground. This alone shows how gorgeous it is. The colorful marble pillar patterns at the door are perfectly symmetrical, and the ground is also decorated with various marble inlay patterns.

There is such a beautiful legend about Venetian lace:

Because the fishermen on the island have to go fishing all year round, the wives who miss their husbands will sit together in their free time and weave cotton threads like fishing nets, and then decorate the edges of their clothes with the knitted fabric. I hope that I can always be with my husband’s heart. Because every stitch and thread hides the inner longings of the wives, the rough fishing nets gradually evolved into beautiful lace.

Later, Venice became a famous producer of European lace. Just like today's luxury goods, by the 16th century, Burano lace had become a royal item of various European royal families: Louis XV, Queen Victoria, Queen Mary, etc. all regarded lace as An important decoration on Chinese clothing. Purely hand-made exquisite lace catered to people's pursuit of gorgeous and intricate decoration, and became something that everyone dreams of. People of all ages are obsessed with it. The lace on the market at that time was all imported from Venice, expensive and rare. It has become a symbol of noble status.

Nowadays, when many articles talk about lace, they say it is the re-blooming of the Rococo flower, but it is not. The perforated lace craftsmanship in the 17th century had reached perfection, and that was the Baroque era. During the one hundred years of the 17th century, knitted lace evolved continuously and became the famous Venetian knitted rose lace. By the end of the 17th century, Venetian lace was incredibly fine. It is said that lace embodies the Rococo style of the 18th century, which may be related to Madame Pompadour of France. In the portrait of Madame de Pompadour, her clothes are decorated with layers of filigree ruffles in many places...

The water divides Venice into more than 120 small islands, and water lanes are formed between each island. The islands are connected by bridges, so when people travel, they walk on the bridge for short distances and take boats for tourists to travel long distances. These are the two wooden boats "gondolas" with warped ends.

This light, slender and uniquely shaped boat has a history of more than a thousand years. It has always been a means of transportation for the Venetians who lived on the lagoon.

There are large and small gondolas. The small one is for a couple and the large one can accommodate up to six people. This kind of small boat is generally 10.75 meters long and 1.75 meters wide. The flat bottom of the boat is asymmetrical, which can better maintain the balance of the boat with only one oar on one side.

When it comes to street shops, the most popular ones are mask and various jewelry stores.

As early as the 13th century AD, Venice had laws regulating the use of masks. Venetians have a long history of using masks as part of their daily lives, although it is never known exactly when Venetians started wearing masks.

In the sixteenth century, wearing cloaks and masks were still not allowed, but "Masquerade" (Masquerade) still shuttled through the streets of Venice. Some of them were secretly meeting lovers, and some were trying to escape the pursuit of enemies. In any case, ten of them were In Venice in the sixth century, "masks" were still prevalent.

Before the 18th century, Venetians were legally allowed to work and live wearing masks for much of the year. Specifically, it is from October 5th of each year to June 10th of the next year - as long as 8 months. As for the more than 10 days of carnival and the 40 days of fasting days, masks are not left behind.

The biggest feature of the Venice Carnival is its masks, followed by its gorgeous costumes. This tradition dates back to 1,700 years ago. The rich and the poor can blend together through masks. Behind the mask, social differences are temporarily erased. The rich became poor and the poor became rich. Of course, if you go to the carnival as a tourist and don’t want to spend money on a mask, you can also ask a local street artist to paint an impromptu painting on your face. This will save you a lot of money, but you just don’t want to be spotted. They greeted each other respectfully. In this short festival, this small republic, known as Venice, effortlessly completed the social integration that other countries had to achieve through revolution.

Behind the mask, age differences are eliminated, the old become younger, and the young suddenly become mature and steady. Young people and little people use the authority represented by masks to dress themselves up as big shots. The old man tries his best to pretend to be young, and the more ignorant and stupid the better. Men can become women, and women can become men.

Venice's glass handicrafts are also world-famous, but I didn't buy them because they were too difficult to carry around. As for masks, they are basically mead in yiwu.

I didn’t have a camera at the time, so I just used an iPhone 4s to record the journey. Later, I wanted to turn the captured images into sketches and watercolor paintings. I even found many good-looking angles, but I kept finding excuses to put it off again and again. As for modern architecture, I like classical architecture from the bottom of my heart. No matter churches, palaces, temples, or houses, every place is a perfect combination of sculpture, painting, and craftsmanship. Each has its own beliefs. I feel that this is a complete building. It is the pinnacle of the combination of art and technology. Currently, I also love the Indian classical dance of 2,500 years ago, the stories of the Classic of Mountains and Seas of 2,500 years ago, and the various intangible cultural heritage crafts of 2,500 years ago. Maybe I have an old soul that has traveled back in time.

summary

The purpose of writing travel notes is to review the first-hand inspiration I gained before.

Venice is the city that I miss day and night.

He is romantic and beautiful, and has so many touching stories.

There is always a time in life to experience the Mask Carnival in Venice.

Of course, bring your own costumes and masks!