Saturday, May 31, 2014

May 20 - Venice Day 1

Well we've made it to Venice.  At this point we have to say goodbye to Massimo and our tour bus as from here on we will either walk or take a boat.  There are no cars in Venice as it's made up of about 118 small islands connected with foot bridges and canals.   Here we are getting onto our water taxi that will take us to our hotel on Giudecca Island which itself is made up of eight islands and just across the Giudecca Canal from the main part of Venice.


Venice was settled by groups from the main land who were fleeing multiple invasions by the Visigoths and Huns.  Initially they would move out to the islands in the bay on a temporary basis but as invasion followed invasion they ended up making Venice a permanent settlement.  The traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, Chiesa San Giacomo, on the island of Rialto in 421.  Initial control was by the Byzantines out of Ravenna, but in 568 local governments started being established and in 726 they rebelled and became an independent city state though still with ties to Constantinople.  During the 9th to the 12th centuries Venice became a powerful city state that controlled all of the north Adriatic Sea.  Because of its location Venice became a powerful state that had extensive trading relations with the Byzantine and Muslim world.  They also ended up controlling a large area of northeast Italy and during our tour we saw the remains of Venetian palaces and fortification around Lake Garda and the smaller cities in the area.

During the middle ages and the Renaissance, the government of Venice was a republic similar to ancient Rome with a chief executive, the Doge, a senate like assembly of nobles, the Grand Assembly, and the mass of citizens with limited power.  The Grand Assembly was too large for efficient administration so a Council of Ten controlled most everything and they elected the Doge who served for life.

Venice remained independent until Napoleon conquered it in 1797.  In 1798, he turned it over to Austria as part of a peace treaty but resumed control in 1805.  After Napoleon's defeat ion 1814 it was returned to Austrian control until 1866 when it became part of a unified Italy.

This morning we are headed around to the lagoon side of Giudecca Island facing away from Venice where there is some industry and a glass blowing shop where we will see a demonstration.  As we cruise in our water taxi we pass this couple out rowing.  The are members of the Associzione Canottieri Giudecca which is a boating club located on Giudecca Island.


Since this is the working side of the island we came across some tug boats.


And ships that are in for some maintenance.


Here is the local equivalent of a delivery truck.  Everything goes by boat as there are no wheeled vehicles or roads to operate them on.


Here's proof that Pat was along on the trip.


Here we are entering the glass demonstration shop and sales room with emphasis on the sales room part.  There used to be a lot of glass factories in this area but they have all moved elsewhere.


Here is the glass blower that will be giving us the demonstration with glass kilns behind him.


Here is a video I shot of the glass blower making a vase.

Glass Blower Making a Vase

And here is the finished product


Next he demonstrated making a horse and here is a video of it.

Glass Blower Making a Horse

And here is the finished product.


After the demonstration they escorted us into their show room and put on the hard sell for us to buy some of their products.  Pat ended up buying a couple of picture frames and a necklace.  The glassware was spectacular but so were the prices.

Here we are re-boarding our water taxi for a trip to visit St. Mark's Square.


On the way we pass a number of the residential area including these modern looking apartments.


As I mentioned earlier Giudecca Island is actually eight island and here is one of the small canals that separate them.  There are foot bridges across these canals so you can go from island to island.


Some more apartment buildings.


And a nice little cottage.


This one is pretty nice too.


Here are some boats of the Guardia di Finanza or Finance Police.  They are primarily responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling.  Sort of a blending of our IRS, SEC and Coast Guard.


Here is Venice's leaning tower.  It is the Campanile (bell tower) of San Giorgi dei Greci (St. George of the Greeks) which is a Greek Orthodox church.  For many years the Venetians would not allow the Byzantines to build a Greek church in Venice but in 1498 they finally relented and construction began in 1548 with the bell tower being added in 1592.  It began to lean almost from the day it was completed.


Here is a photo of center of town with the Doge's Palace, and St. Marks Campanile.


We get off the water taxi and start walking towards St. Mark's Square.  Along the way we pass this little alley.


As we had seen in Sicily, the "street performers" get dressed up in elaborate costumes with the idea that the tourists will take pictures with them and leave a donation.


Here is the clock tower in St. Mark's Square.  Through the archway is Merceria Street which leads to the retail section of the city.  Just above the archway is an analog clock.  Above that is a statue of the Virgin Mary with Jesus and straddling the statue is a very early digital clock with the hours on the left in Roman numerals and the minutes on the right in Arabic numerals.  It doesn't show every minute but advances in five minute increments.  The tower was built in 1496 and the digital display was added in 1855.  Originally there were figures of the three Magi led by an angel blowing a trumpet that circled by the Virgin Mary on the hour but due to wear and tear that has been reduced to just twice a year on the Epiphany and the Ascension.


The bell on top has two figures called Moors that strike the bell with hammers on the hour.  Here is a video I shot of this.

Bell Being Struck

Here we are headed down Merceria Street.  Lots of shops and hoards of people.


Here we are crossing over one of the small canals that separate the many islands that make up Venice.


This is the Ponte di Rialto ( Rialto Bridge) which crosses the Grand Canal.  A pontoon bridge was first built in this location in 1181.  It was replaced with a wooden version in 1255.  After the wooden bridge had burned down or failed a number of times they had this stone bridge built in 1591.  It features two rows of shops over the bridge with walkways down the center and on either side.


Here is a view down the Grand Canal from the bridge.


Here is a view of the other side of the bridge after we had crossed it.


Gondolas on the Grand Canal.


And a Gondolier wearing the classical outfit of striped shirt and straw hat.


While we were in St. Mark's Square and all of the way to the Rialto Bridge it was packed as there were about five cruise ships in town.  Once we got across the bridge we cut to the right to this piazza on the Grand Canal and had lunch in this restaurant.  Very peaceful and fabulous scenery.


Here's a nice little house on the Grand Canal.


After lunch we headed through town and found this vendor selling T shirts that were actually made in Italy so we bought some.


Next square over had the produce market.  The strawberries look outstanding.


Right next to the produce market was the fish market but is was closed today.


This sign specifies the minimum length for all different kind of fish that the sell.


Here we are heading back across the Rialto Bridge.  At the top of the bridge you're pretty high above street level.


Here is a shot back up the bridge.  You can see all of the shops that line the bridge.


Another shot of the Grand Canal.  This is essentially the main street of the city and so it is always very busy with lots of crowds and restaurants lining it.


This is the Chiesa San Salvador.  The original church was consecrated in 1177 but this one was begun in 1508 with the facade being finished in 1663.


I thought this was a neat wall decoration.  Not sure what it is supposed to represent.


Here we are walking through some of the narrow allies in the shopping district.


Here is a couple taking a nice gondola ride down one of the small canals.  The gondolier has to duck every time he comes to one of these bridges.


Here is the bell tower in St. Mark's Square.  There has been a tower of one sort or another on this site since the 9th century.  The original tower was made of wood and built on a Roman foundation and used as a watch tower.  The current shape was first built in the 16th century.  The current tower was built in 1912 as the previous version had collapsed in 1902.


Here is St. Mark's Square.  It was originally built as the administrative and commercial center of the city but today it is mostly a tourist area with shops and restaurants.


Here is a three piece band providing entertainment at one of the restaurants.


Here is the Basilica Cattedrali Patriarcale di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica).  Since 1807 it has been the city principal church.  Before that it was the chapel of the Doge.  The first version was ordered by the Doge in 828 when Venetian merchants stole the relics of St Mark from Alexandria.  It was rebuilt several times and achieved its present shape in the 11th century.  It is famous for its mosaics and some can be seen on the facade and over the entrances.


Here are photos of two of the side entrances and the main entrance.



In this photo of the main entrance you can see the famous four statues of Horses of St. Mark's. No one knows how old they are but they were part of the loot brought back from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade in 1204.  These are not the originals, only replicas, as the originals are kept in the museum.


Here is a photo taken through and open doorway into the interior showing some of the mosaics.


Pat and I went into the church and there are mosaics everywhere.  You were not supposed to take photos but I was able to sneak this video of the ceiling while we were sitting in one of the pews.

Ceiling Mosaics

Straddling the entrance to St. Mark's Square are a pair of columns which were erected in about 1268.  On top of one is this figure of a winged lion which is the symbol of St. Mark and of Venice.


On top of the other is a statue of St. Theodore who was the patron saint of Venice before St. Mark.  He is holding a spear and is standing on a crocodile which represents the dragon he was supposed to have slain.


This elaborate archway connects the Doge's Palace to the Basilica.  If you look in the bottom left corner of this photo you will see the statue of the Four Tetrachs that is built into the corner of the Basilica.  This is a statue that was stolen from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.


This is the Doge's Palace which in this location dates from the 1170s.  It has been rebuilt many times and achieved it current form in the 16th century.


If you look carefully at the columns on the second floor balcony you will see two that are a red shade.  Here is a close up of this area.  This is the area where the Doge stood when he was reading out prison or death sentences.


There are a number of street lights in the square that all have rose colored glass as you can see in this photo.


This is the famous Bridge of Sighs that connects the Doge's Palace with the old prison.  It got its name as condemned criminals crossing this bridge between the court in the Palace and the prison got their last look at the outside world through the grates in the side of this bridge.


Here is another of the well dressed "street performers" trying to elicit donations.


This is the Chiesa San Giorgio Maggiore.  It is a 16th century Benedictine church on the island of the same name.  There has been a church on this island since 790 and it was given to the Benedictines in 982.  The current church was designed by Palladio who was a famous 16th century Italian architect who built palaces and churches all over Italy.


This church is officially the Chiesa Santa Maria della Presentazione but is usually referred to as Le Zitelle and is part of a complex that gave shelter to young maidens ("zitelle" in Italian) who didn't have a dowry.  It is located on the easternmost end of Giudecca Island.  Its design is by Palladio and it was built in 1586.


Here is a nice home on Giudecca Island


Looking down the Venice water front on the Giudecca Canal between Venice and Giudecca Island. The church on the right is the Chiesa Santa Maria del Raosario but is better known as I Gesuati. The original church in this area was built by an order called I Poverti Gesuati (The Poor Jesuits) which has no connection to the Jesuit order.  The order fell on hard times and was disbanded by Pope Clement IX in 1668.  The site was then given to the Dominicans who built the current church starting in 1726 and finishing in 1755.  The smaller church further down is the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione which is the original church of the I Poverti Gesuati and it was originally know as St. Jerome's.


There were two Turkish warships in port.  This one is the TGC Cezayirli Gazi Hassan Pasa and is being used as a training ship for Turkish Navy cadets.


Here is one of the cruise ships that was in port.


This is a small waterside restaurant on Giudecca Island where we will eat dinner  later this evening.


This is a panorama I took while at the roof top bar of our hotel.  You can see Venice on the left, then the Giudecca Canal, then Giudecca Island and to the far right is the lagoon.


We are walking along the canal on Giudecca Island to go to dinner.  This is a residential area as can be seen from the laundry being hung out to dry.


Had a very nice dinner at the Osteria a Botti.  This is the octopus salad that Joe Christie had.


And here is his Cuttlefish with Polenta.


And here is a group of us chatting after dinner.


Tomorrow will be the last full day of our tour.  In the morning we will do some exploring on our own and then visit the islands of Murano and Burano.