The Lady of the Lagoon

  Venice, Italy
Sunday, November 18, 2007

Venice is bathed in the blue-green waters of the Adriatic, and although one of the most contaminated of the world, Venice is still called the Lady of the Lagoon.  Venice is femening from anywhere you look at it, be it from the round domes that emerge from the horizon as plump breasts, or the curvaceous loops of the Grand Canal running through the belly.  But most probably it's the white marble and stone which she is made of, like the elegant lace covering the face of a maiden.  Venice is a woman, even though her face is that of a lion's.  


 
The cold in Venice seeps through your clothes and your skin down to the marrow of your bones, and every step you take is painful.  They say getting lost in Venice is the best way to get to know the city but we ended up trying to stay out of the streets and out of the cold.  We were impressed with the amount of people there, despite the bad weather conditions.  Apparently Venice is a city that thrives on tourism no matter what time of the year. 
 
The crowds got particularly bad as we were reaching Piazza San Marco, and although it was dark and hazy, we were left speechless as the first golden lunettes and the elegant spires of the Basilica di San Marco appeared before us from an opening in the low buildings.  Saint Mark, patron saint of Venice is its muse and mystical celebrity.   His evangelistic symbol is the lion, an icon which can be found in almost every church, cathedral, basilica, or chapel in the world.  But here, in the Piazza San Marco, he stands on a great granite column looking out to sea, showing to all those who enter Venetian waters the power and might of the maritime city.   The fact that it has never been torn down as a hated symbol of oppression speaks of the benign nature of the Venetian Republic. Next to it stands another large pillar with the image of Saint Theodore, Venice's first patron saint before Saint Mark's remains were smuggled here from Alexandria in the 9th century. Public executions took place between the two columns and even today, superstitious Venetians will not be seen walking between the two pillars.


 
Next to Saint Mark's Basilica is the Palazzo Ducale, a pink and white marbled Gothic palace on the waterfront, palace of justice and home to the Doge of Venice for centuries.  Its lace-like Istrian stone arches and trefoils makes the palace a light and airy building.  We took a tour around its chambers and halls but were not allowed to photograph them, and got told off when my flash accidentally went off.  The most impressive room for us was the Sala dello Scudo, which was panelled in old maps of the world and in which two two huge 18th globes stood cast in a rich wooden frames in the centre.  For me, this room represented the glory of the Republic of Venice, with its maritime power and trade routes, its rich merchants and tradesmen flowing in to the Serenissima from every corner of the earth.
 
We walked through the Bridge of Sighs adjoining the Palazzo Ducale to the prison.  It is said that it was the prisoner's last glance at the sea, at Venice, and probably at their families watching as they were escorted into prison after judgement at the palace.  The name comes from the sighs that they let out as they cross it, a sad and hopeless suspire.


 
The vaporetti, or water buses, are the best way to travel in Venice.  The lack of roads means lack of cars, and so the public transportation is entirely done over water.  The best way to tour the Grand Canal, known to the Venetians as the Canalazzo, is by a vaporetto.  Sweeping through the heart of Venice, the Grand Canal will give you the best views of the decaying palazzi and their once-grand family names.   We cruised under the Rialto Bridge and stopped in what we thought was the most exquisite example of a living palazzo: 'Ca Rezzonico.  It houses a museum of 18th century Venice, including paintings, furnishings, frescos, art objects, and an original 16th century gondola.  The Rezzonico's were a family of merchants-turned-bankers from Genoa who brought the semi-finished palace from the indebted Bon family.  A huge part of their fortune was dedicated to the purchase and decoration of their waterfront palace, and they became renowned in Venice for the lavish celebrations they put on when their masterpiece was finished. None other than Giorgio Massari painted the ceiling of their extravagant ballroom in the breadth of the building.


 
Santa Maria della Salute stands white and immaculate at the very end of the Canalazzo. Henry James said this church was like "some great lady on the threshold of her salon...with her domes and scrolls, her scalloped buttresses and statues forming a pompous crown and her wide steps disposed on the ground like the train of a robe".   He was right.  There was something feminine and elegant about this church, and the fact that it was built in thanksgiving for the end of the 1630 plague probably accounts for this. When we walked in, service was in process but we were allowed to stay inside and light a few candles.
 
Out of all the churches I always wanted to see in Venice, Il Redentore always called my attention first.  Perched on the island of Giudecca, it can be seen from Venice from behind the mist and fog that almost always covers the lagoon.  Giudecca used to be a pleasure ground of palaces and gardens, today a quiet residential place with old factories turned into modern lofts and flats.  Andrea Palladio designed and built Giudecca's main attraction: Il Redentore which was also built in thanksgiving to the end of a plague, this one in 1576 which wiped out almost a third of the population.  Palladio was obsessive about harmony, proportion and symmetry, and Il Redentore is a faithful witness of his master's perfectionism.  Built in a very classical style it is an austere and elegant church built almost entirely of white marble, a contrast to the extravagant and gilded Baroque churches of Venice.  For 2€ we hopped on the lift that took us up to the highest dome and enjoyed the most impressive views of Venice and its surrounding lagoon islands.


 
We got back into the Vaporetto and sailed back to Venice as the sun started going down.  There were still tons of things left to do and see, and one weekend was definitely not enough.  There is no doubt that Venice is unique, romantic, and gorgeous, but we felt it has been stripped of the warmth, friendliness, and passion that any Italian city has.  Tourism has probably been its main killer: the locals were not helpful, did not make us feel welcomed, no one smiled and some were just plain rude.  It is senselessly expensive, the food which is supposed to be great is actually mediocre to bad, you can' take pictures anywhere, and you are charged for absolutely every little ridiculous thing (like turning on dome lights in a church).  The worse part is that no one wanted to make an effort in making sure we return because, hey, it's Venice, someone else will always want to come to spend their money.   Although we had seen a cold and unfriendly side to Venice, we had still been charmed by the canals and lonely bridges, the art and architecture that are ever-present, the photogenic corners and walkways, the memories of masquerades and glorious decadence.   Venice seems like a treasure which has been faded by time, but surprisingly looks undiscovered and alone. 

 
 
Yeah, we were ready to give her another chance.  Every woman deserves one.