CARNIVAL OF VENICE: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD

The Carnival of Venice is a festival that, for the first time in history, does not have a religious character, but what is celebrated are the sins of the flesh. A tradition related to sex that it will travel from Venice to the rest of the planet.

There are many places that claim to have at the Carnival one of its most important attractions, but we can say that it is in Venice where this festival so popular begins to be celebrated for the first time: The Carnival he was born in Venice. At the beginning of the ELEVENTH century, because it was something common in this city, that the merchants were to attend to the brothel with the face covered so that they will not recognize, thus emerging the use of the typical venetian mask, on the other hand, it also became very popular celebrations between nobles and commoners in which both classes used to meet if putting on a mask so as not to be recognized. But it is in the year 1296 when Christopher Tolive, chief secretary of the Doge of Venice, considers that the carnival should be an official holiday. The commercial crisis and economic suffered Venice in the early SIXTEENTH century, because of the Discovery of America and, therefore, the change of direction of the trade routes, he made the Venetian Republic to focus greater attention to aspects such as culture, art and music, and encouraged awareness of the celebration of the Carnival, which reached its maximum splendor throughout the SEVENTEENTH Century and especially in the EIGHTEENTH Century, when the nobles of all Europe used to moor their boats in Venice to enjoy in the first person, this party so unique. However, in 1797, with the occupation by the French, Napoleon Bonaparte would prohibit the Carnival to the fear that the habit of hiding behind a mask could generate conspiracies against his person. After the Italian Unification in the mid-NINETEENTH Century, the celebrations of carnival were restoring gradually, but it will not be until the year 1979, when he will return to be an official holiday. The last days of the Carnival held in 2020 were suspended by reason of the expansion of the coronavirus in Northern Italy and, for the first time since 1797, the Carnival has been cancelled for the same reason in 2021.

In addition to strolling through the beautiful narrow alleys of the city observing the luxurious costumes that show the venetians, to admire the old workshops of handmade masks or simply enjoy the atmosphere that shows the city these days, it is worth attending to some of the many events organized by the municipality of venice with the arrival of the Carnival:

• Holiday-skiing: this is the first celebration of the venetian carnival, a multitude of ships of different sizes and decorated in many different ways, run through the Channel of Canareggio, one of the most important of Venice, showing small parties in the interior of the same.
• The Flight of the Dove (or " Flight of the Angel): We can say that this celebration is the one that is the official start of Carnival in Venice. A venetian woman clothed colombina will be released via a zip line from the top of the Campanille in San marco up to the courtyard of the Doge's Palace.
• Contest of Masks and Costumes: it is celebrated in the Plaza de San Marcos and is one of the most popular events and important of the carnival. In addition to the award in metallic, what is important for a venetian is to get to be the first in your category.
• Feast of the Marys: this celebration is done in remembrance of the twelve girls, fine and humble, that year after year they were honored by the Doge. Currently, a jury chooses the most beautiful of the marias and the prize will be chosen to dress up as columbine in the following year and be launched from the Campanille in the Flight of the Dove.
• Flight of the Eagle: this is a celebration, unlike the rest, very current and has not its origin in medieval traditions. The city council chooses to several athletes associated with Venice, and who have excelled in any discipline in the last year and the journey of these athletes is the same as that of the angel on her flight, except that in this case iran under the guise of eagles.
• The Flight of the Lion: in this case a huge venetian flag, red and with a winged lion occupying nearly the whole of its surface, flies over the San Marcos Square full of people while playing the anthem of the city.
• The Race of the Silence: represents the end point of the venetian Carnival performing at twelve on the night of Ash Wednesday. A large parade of traditional boats ply the waters of the Grand Canal from Santa Maria de la Salute up to the Bridge of the Barefoot passing by the iconic Rialto Bridge, the parade is performed in absolute silence and represents possibly the celebration more beautiful in the Carnival.
  Part of the official celebrations, numerous hotels and museums do private parties resulting the most popular dances of masks and always at a premium price.

One of the most important aspects of the Carnival, or perhaps the most important, is the Mask. As we said at the beginning, the mask was used by merchants for access to the brothel without being recognized, for this reason the mask of the trader, also called the bauta, is the mask oldest in Venice and is characterised by the opening that shows in the jaw, allowing the trader to be able to eat and speak without problem, but in addition to the merchant in Venice we can find the following masks:

• The moretta (or muda): this dark mask was used by prostitutes who accompanied traders on the typical parties venetian between nobles and commoners. It is characterized because it has no mouth nor rope to be tied up, so that the mask is secure you have to bite a small button that has in its interior.
  The major part of the masks used in Venice are inherited from the Comedy Theatre, a theatre that began to be held during the SIXTEENTH Century, and which is characterized by its style, satirical and ironic, its most important characters are the following:
• Harlequin: the mask of Harlequin is the best-selling of Venice, depicts a jester palace and is known for being a trickster of women. Wearing a suit to diamonds, and a hat with bells.
• Colombina: it is the fatal woman, a rich venetian eager to find a rich husband, will become the bride of Harlequin, with it being the only woman to get betraying him. Columbine is represented with a mask and feathers, which can be of any color and type.
• Pierrot: would be the victim of this story, is a young man that is in love with Columbine, which doesn't do you any case, in addition to suffering the constant mistreatment of its owner. To pierrot, he is represented with a black cap, the face is painted white and shedding a tear black.
• Pantalone: it is an old merchant of venice, famous for being rich and a miser, is the father of Columbine and the owner of Pierrot and Harlequin, and his mask is characterized by its enormous nose under bushy brows.
  There are other masks that without belonging to the Theatre of Comedy are very popular in Venice:
• The Plague Doctor: the great epidemic that Europe suffered in the FOURTEENTH Century, and again in Venice at the beginning of the SEVENTEENTH Century marked inexorably the city of channels, every corner of Venice is always marked by the Black Plague. The mask of the Plague Doctor has a huge nose that allows it to keep the safety distance between the doctor and the infected, and over it the huge eye protection.
• The Cat: also related to the black plague as this animal was once widely used in Venice to eat the rats, on which numerous fleas carried in your stomach, the bacteria of the black plague.

There are other masks that without belonging to the Theatre of Comedy are very popular in Venice:

• The Plague Doctor: the great epidemic that Europe suffered in the FOURTEENTH Century, and again in Venice at the beginning of the SEVENTEENTH Century marked inexorably the city of channels, every corner of Venice is always marked by the Black Plague. The mask of the Plague Doctor has a huge nose that allows it to keep the safety distance between the doctor and the infected, and over it the huge eye protection.
• The Cat: also related to the black plague as this animal was once widely used in Venice to eat the rats, on which numerous fleas carried in your stomach, the bacteria of the black plague.

Mask making involves a process quite laborious, are made of paper mache, which we stick together well and leave it to dry, then sanded with care, to paint with acrylic paint and decorated with feathers and precious stones in many cases. The artisan who is dedicated to this work received the name of macherari, this being one of the few artisanal traditions that still exist in Venice.

As we said at the beginning, the Carnival was born in Venice, however, is exported to many other places and the main reason will be the Discovery of America. When the Spanish Empire begins his expeditions in the other side of the Atlantic, the venetian trade will begin to suffer from a profound crisis. The products that came from the East such as spices or fabrics began to be passed out of fashion among the nobles, europeans turned their attention to new products, such as tobacco, coffee or chocolate. The trade routes changed direction and the port of Venice began its inexorable decline in favour of the ports on the atlantic coast: Porto, Seville, Lisbon... all of them the most trade routes remained with America was the Port of Cadiz, when venetian traders were found without products, demands and routes in Venice, many of them will choose to go to Cadiz, where they are carrying on this tradition of Venice Carnival of Cádiz and from there expand to the rest of the ports of Latin america.

Do not forget, finally, that the Carnival is celebrated sow forty days before Holy Week. This made it possible to carry out all kinds of parties, especially parties associated with the "meat", hence the word Carnival, and then can purge our sins during the lenten season and get clean of body and soul to the Holy Week. We can say, therefore, that the Carnival was the first feast civil that has been held in the history, before this whole celebration had a greater or lesser extent a religious character.