20 CURIOSITIES OF VENICE

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We have visited Venice on a few occasions (it is fortunate to have been born just two hours from there), but every time we return we discovered some new curiosity. So we have decided to collect all these peculiar data, and thus help you to make your travel companions crazy.

If you want more information of Venice, visit our GUIDE TO A TRIP TO VENICE

1. Did you know that Venice is the perfect place to go for tapas? Well, actually the "tapas" are called cicchetti (pronounced "chiqquetti") and there are many types: bread skewers with charcuterie or fish, meatballs, small portions of seafood, etc. They are paid separately and theirs is to accompany them for a “ombra” (a glass of wine, better if it is house wine). Here we recommend the best bacari (tapas bar) in Venice.

2. Venice was the hometown of a few prominent characters. This is the case of Casanova, who may well have been the first tronista in history. A rather unknown character (unfortunately) is Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Pisapia, the first woman who graduated in the world (at the University of Padova). Contrary to what many people think, Marco Polo was not born here, he did it in Corfu (which at that time was part of the Venetian Republic).

3. From above, Venice has fish shape! A pretty curiosity, right?

4. The Venice's most famous party is Carnival, when the city has been conquered by people in disguise since 1296. Well, there was actually a period in which it suppressed (thank you, Napoleon!) for the fear of attacks.

5. Many believe that the Bridge of Sighs owes its name to the sighs that it causes in passersby as it passes in front of him, for its undeniable beauty. Error, the sighs were of the prisoners who crossed by him in the direction of the jail, while looking at the sky for the last time.

Bridge of Sighs of Venice

6. In the beginning, nobody gave a hard one for the Rialto Bridge: the bad tongues said that the first stone bridge in the city would fall, that it was impossible to lift it. In addition to other motivational beads like "it will only end when another leg comes out" or "if you manage to finish it I burn alive." And yes, kids, as you know, the bridge is over. The most horny thing is that it was decided to capture those “promises” in stone and today you can see the sculpture of a woman in flames and that of a man with three legs in the capitals of the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, near the bridge. So you know ... never say never!

7. In Venice there are a few bridges, the most famous is that of Rialto, without a doubt. But he is not the most curious ... there are two quite striking: Ponte delle Tette (from the boobs) that used to be frequented by prostitutes waiting for customers, and the Ponte dei Pugni (of the punches) that transformed into a kind of outdoor ring, although here the one who lost, ended up directly in the water. If you want to see a bridge without railings you have to go to Ponte Chiodo (Bridge of the nails), the truth is that it is quite curious.

8. It is prohibited to dive into the water or take a bath in Venice. If your desire for beach is unbearable, go to the nearby Lido of Venice.

9. The high acqua It is a phenomenon that occurs between October and March, when some areas of the city, including Piazza San Marco, are flooded by the water of the Lagoon.

10. One of the symbols of Venice are its boats: the gondolas. I know build in the squero veneziano, where employees are transmitted from generation to generation the "secret recipe". All gondolas measure 10.85 meters long and 1.4 meters wide, and weigh about 350 kg. For its construction 8 different types of wood are used!

Gondolas on the canals of Venice

11. Riding a gondola is not too cheap, but if it makes you look forward to spending some time (briefly) sailing on a canal in Venice, write this name: traghetto. These are gondolas that cross the large canal from one side to the other, very useful for when there are no bridges nearby. It costs € 2 (for tourists) and there are different points where you can take it:

Fondamenta Santa Lucia (right in front of the train station)
Fondamente San Simeón Piccolo
Campo del Traghetto - Street launches
San Samuele - Ca 'Rezzónico
Sant 'Angelo - San Tomá
Riva del Carbon - Fondamente del Vin
Santa Sofia - Pescaria
San Marcuola - Fóndaco dei Turchi
Here you have a good map to see the different traguetto stops.

12. Do you know why the gondolas are black? It is due to a restriction imposed by the Serene Republic of Venice so that the Venetian nobles stopped competing to show who had more money decorating their gondolas. There are also those who say that following a plague epidemic, all the gondolas were painted black in mourning.

13. One of the songs sung by the gondolieri from Venice (and more requested by tourists) is "Oh, my sole". But it really has nothing to do with Venice: it's a typical song from Naples 😉

14. One of the most interesting areas of Venice (and often overlooked by tourists) is the Jewish ghetto, which by the way was the first ghetto in history.

15. The symbol of Venice is a winged lion with an open book Among the claws that this phrase recites: PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS (Peace for you, Marco, my evangelist). It is a clear nod to Evangelist Marco, patron of the city. There are representations of the lion with the book open (time of peace) and with the book closed (time of war).

The winged lion, symbol of Venice

16. Everyone knows that "Hello" in Italian is said "ciao", but few know that the etymology of the word derives from a venerated expression: "Sciao vostro" (your slave). It was used as a form of respectful greeting among Venetians.

17. The streets in Italy are called “via” but in Venice they are called “street”. There are a few curious streets, but the most peculiar is the “Varisco street” that only measures 53 cm (so it is best to go through it before eating pizza and ice cream XD).

18. The Venice squares called "campi" (fields) because in the past it was exactly what you think: orchards!

19. In Veneto, the wine glasses are called "ombra" (shadow) since in the formerly only place where they could drink was Piazza San Marco. To keep the wine from getting hot, street vendors had to follow the shadow of the bell tower in the square ... hence the name 😉

20. It is no secret that the inhabitants of the city are up to the tourist's bun. The island of Venice is probably the place in the world with more visitors per square meter. So try to visit it also at night, when many tourists have already left.