Venice has many stories to tell for those who look carefully…
Venice is the city of canals and bridges. There are 417 bridges, 72 of those are private. The most famous ones are Rialto and Accademia Bridge, spanning the Grand Canal. The “Costituzione” Bridge, better known as Calatrava Bridge (named after the architect), made of glass and wood, is the most modern bridge in Venice. You may already know the Bridge of Sighs: as the convicts were being led across it from the Court of Justice to the dark jails, they had the last view of the outside world before their imprisonment.
Venice’s streets are usually called calli and they can be both wide and narrow. The narrow ones are the most common, because in the past the real way of reaching houses and buildings was by canal. Streets naturally arose to move between houses, but were not originally conceived for traffic. One of the most narrow is called Calletta Varisco (= small street) and it’s only 53 cm wide!
Via Garibaldi, in comparison, is one of the widest street in Venice: find it in ‘Castello District‘, the core of Venice. In this street you find at least 3 gorgeous restaurants where having a great dinner outside!
Gondolier Benefits
Not many people know that becoming a licensed gondola rider, or gondolièr is actually quite hard. These narrow boats have been used for over 10 centuries to navigate across the channels because of their slender shape, but they can only be led by skilled oarsmen, who need to go through intense training and pass a final exam. Hundreds of young men apply every year, but only 3 to 4 people manage to get the license!
instagram © courtesy of @cintiaalcantaratiti
High tide is a thing
When you hear the sound of sirens in Venice, it usually means that Acqua Alta is coming. For us venitians ‘alta’ (high water) is when it reaches 140-160 cm above sea level. It means lots of streets are flooded by 10 to 40 centimeters of water.. The high tide is a common phenomenon here, the level of water in the channels rises above the pavement and floods the streets. High tide is mainly caused by past excavations in the lagoon and by the winds. You just need to wear a pair of rubber boots and enjoy this new side of Venice!
instagram © courtesy of @geidiemme
Inevitable sinking
Did you know that Venice is sinking at the rate of 1-2 millimeters a year? Sea-level rise isn’t the only thing that has Venice’s famous canals rising ever-so-slightly every year: the city is also subsiding due to water pumping and to the passage of cruise ships, that cause the destruction of the lagoon seabed.
instagram © courtesy of @maximrutskiy
Palazzo Ducale’s pink columns
If you give a good look to the facade of Doge Palace, you will notice two pink columns, while the others are all white. Between those two columns, in fact, were read life sentences. Legend says that if the condemned could turn around one of those columns without falling off the pedestal, they would be spared. Too bad that there’s no pedestal on the other side of the columns…
instagram © courtesy of @themcp
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