421, VENICE IS FOUNDED WITH SAN GIACOMO DI RIALTO

Today, The Grandma has been reading about one of her favourite places, Venice, the city that was founded with the dedication of the first church, San Giacomo di Rialto, on a day like today in 421.

Venice, in Venetian Venesia or Venexia, is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region.

It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers, more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile.

Venice has been known as La Dominante, La Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals.

The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork.

Venice is known for several important artistic movements -especially during the Renaissance period- and has played an important role in the history of instrumental and operatic music, and is the birthplace of Baroque composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi.

Although no surviving historical records deal directly with the founding of Venice, tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees -from nearby Roman cities such as Padua, Aquileia, Treviso, Altino, and Concordia (modern Portogruaro), as well as from the undefended countryside-who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun invasions.

This is further supported by the documentation on the so-called apostolic families, the twelve founding families of Venice who elected the first doge, who in most cases trace their lineage back to Roman families.

Some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen, on the islands in the original marshy lagoons, who were referred to as incolae lacunae, lagoon dwellers.

The traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto or Rivoalto, High Shore -said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421, the Feast of the Annunciation.

In 828 the new city's prestige increased with the acquisition, from Alexandria, of relics claimed to be of St Mark the Evangelist; these were placed in the new basilica. Winged lions -visible throughout Venice- are the emblem of St Mark.

The patriarchal seat was also moved to Rialto. As the community continued to develop, and as Byzantine power waned, its own autonomy grew, leading to eventual independence.

More information: Introducing Venice

San Giacomo di Rialto is a church in the sestiere of San Polo, Venice. The addition of Rialto to the name distinguishes this church from its namesake San Giacomo dell'Orio found in the sestiere of Santa Croce, on the same side of the Grand Canal.

It has a large 15th-century clock above the entrance, a useful item in the Venetian business district but regarded as a standing joke for its inaccuracy. 

The Gothic portico is one of the few surviving examples in Venice. It has a Latin cross plan with a central dome. Inside, the Veneto-Byzantine capitals on the six columns of ancient Greek marble date from the 11th century.

According to tradition, San Giacomo is the oldest church in the city, supposedly consecrated in the year 421. Although documents exist mentioning the area but not the church in 1097, the first document citing the church dates from 1152.

It was rebuilt in 1071, prompting the establishment of the Rialto market with bankers and money changers in front of the church. The system with the bill of exchange was introduced here, as clients went with such a bill of exchange with a credit inscribed from one banker to another.

In 1503, it survived a fire which destroyed the rest of the area, and was restored from 1601 by order of Doge Marino Grimani. Works included raising of the pavement to counter the acqua alta.

More information: ThoughtCo

 Venice never quite seems real, 

but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.

Frida Giannini

MAYTE VISITED BURANO IN THE VENETIAN LAGOON

Mayte in Burano, Veneto

Today, The Grandma has been watching news on TV. She has been astonished about the last flood in Venice, a normal phenomenon called 'Aqua Alta' that has surprised the lagoon with an unusual force. 

Climate change is a reality and although our planet has suffered other extinctions in the past, this is different because is not provoked by a natural phenomenon but a human influence.

The Grandma has phoned Mayte, who was visiting Burano, next to Venice, last summer and they have been talking about Burano and the Venetian Lagoon, a beautiful place that we must protect and take care of it if we do not want that it disappears under the Adriatic Sea.

Before talking with Mayte, The Grandma has read a new chapter of Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party and Other Stories.

Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon near Torcello at the northern end of the Lagoon, known for its lace work and brightly coloured homes. The primary economy is tourism.

Burano is 7 kilometres from Venice, a 40-minute trip from St. Mark's Square by a Venetian water bus, vaporetto.

The island is linked to Mazzorbo by a bridge. The current population of Burano is about 2,800. Originally, there were five islands and a fourth canal that was filled to become via e piazza Baldassare Galuppi, joining the former islands of San Martino Destra and San Martino Sinistra.

Burano has historically been subdivided into five sestieri, much like Venice. They correspond to the five original islands.

Burano has a high population density, calculated at more than 13,000 per square kilometer, or more than twenty times the density of neighboring Mazzorbo. It is almost entirely covered by residential buildings, with few small green areas.

More information: Isola di Burano

The island was probably settled by the Romans, and in the 6th century was occupied by people from Altino, who named it for one of the gates of their former city. Two stories are attributed to how the city obtained its name. One is that it was initially founded by the Buriana family, and another is that the first settlers of Burano came from the small island of Buranello, about 8 kilometres to the south.

Although the island soon became a thriving settlement, it was administered from Torcello and had none of the privileges of that island or of Murano. It rose in importance only in the 16th century, when women on the island began making lace with needles, being introduced to such a trade via Venetian-ruled Cyprus.

More information: Trip Savvy

When Leonardo da Vinci visited in 1481, he visited the small town of Pano Lefkara and purchased a cloth for the main altar of the Duomo di Milano. The lace was soon exported across Europe, but trade began to decline in the 18th century and the industry did not revive until 1872, when a school of lacemaking was opened. Lacemaking on the island boomed again, but few now make lace in the traditional manner as it is extremely time-consuming and therefore expensive.

Burano is also known for its small, brightly painted houses, which are popular with artists. The colours of the houses follow a specific system, originating from the golden age of its development. If someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot.

Other attractions include the Church of San Martino, with a leaning campanile and a painting by Giambattista Tiepolo (Crufixion, 1727), the Oratorio di Santa Barbara and the Museum and School of Lacemaking.

More information: The Local

Climate change is happening, humans are causing it,

and I think this is perhaps the most serious

environmental issue facing us.

Bill Nye

PIASA SAN MARCO, VENESIA: EL CANPANIÈL COLLAPSES

Campanile, Venice & Venetian Towers, Barcelona

Today, The Grandma has gone to visit Montjuïc Mountain in Barcelona. She likes walking across this magic mountain because it offers lots of activities. You can visit the most beautiful gardens, interesting museums and theatres and incredible monuments. One of the most significant monuments when you are arriving to Montjuic Mountain is the Venetian Towers that welcome visitors to Montjuïc.

These Venetian towers were built for the Universal Exposition in 1929 and they are a tribute to St Mark's Campanile, the most popular tower in Venice -Venèsia in Venetan-, that collapsed on a day like today in 1902.

The Grandma loves Barcelona with the same intensity she loves Venice. Both cities are incredible places with an ancient history to know, to learn and to conserve.

Every time The Grandma thinks in Venice, she remembers her old friend Corto Maltese and the wonderful moments they spent together in the city of the canals.

St Mark's Campanile, in Venetian Canpanièl de San Marco, is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Veneto, located in the Piazza San Marco. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.

The tower is 98.6 metres tall, and stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a fluted brick square shaft, 12 metres wide on each side and 50 metres tall, above which is a loggia surrounding the belfry, housing five bells.

The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show the Lion of St. Mark and the female representation of Venice, la Giustizia or Justice. The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel.

The collapsed Campanile, Venice (1902)

The Campanile reached its present form in 1514. The current tower was reconstructed in its present form in 1912 after the collapse of 1902. The initial 9th-century construction, initiated during the reign of Pietro Tribuno (887–912) and built on Roman foundations, was used as a watch tower or lighthouse for the dock, which then occupied a substantial part of the area which is now the Piazzetta. Construction was finished in the twelfth century, during the reign of Domenico Morosini. 

Adjoining the base of the campanile is the loggetta built by Sansovino, completed in 1549 and rebuilt in 1912 after it had been destroyed by the fall of the campanile. One of the models for the tower was the St. Mercuriale's Campanile, in Forlì.

The Campanile suffered damage by lightning on many occasions. It was severely damaged in 1388, set on fire and destroyed in 1417 and seriously damaged by a fire in 1489 that destroyed the wooden spire.

The Campanile assumed its definitive shape in the sixteenth century thanks to the restorations made to repair further damage caused by the earthquake of March 1511. These works, initiated by the architect Giorgio Spavento, then executed under the direction of Bartolomeo Bon of Bergamo, added the belfry, realized in marble; the attic, on which was put the sculpture of the lion of Saint Mark and Venice; and the spire, in gold leaf. The work was completed on 6 July 1513, with the placement of the gilded wooden statue of the Archangel Gabriel in the course of a ceremony recorded by Marin Sanudo.

More information: Basilica San Marco

In the following centuries numerous other interventions were made to repair the damage from fires caused by lightning. It was damaged in 1548 and 1565. In 1653, Baldassarre Longhena took up the restorations. The Campanile was damaged by lightning again in 1658. More work was done after a fire caused by a lightning strike on 13 April 1745, which caused some of the masonry to crack, and killed several people as a result of falling stonework. The Campanile was damaged by lightning again in 1761 and 1762. In 1776 it was equipped with a lightning rod. In 1820, the statue of the angel was replaced with a new one by Luigi Zandomeneghi.

The collapsed Campanile, Venice (1902)

In July 1902, the north wall of the tower began to show signs of a dangerous crack that in the following days continued to grow. Finally, on Monday, 14 July, around 9:45 am, the Campanile collapsed completely, also demolishing the loggetta.

Only the caretaker's cat was killed. Because of the Campanile's position, the resulting damage was relatively limited. Apart from the loggetta, only a corner of the Biblioteca Marciana was destroyed. The pietra del bando, a large porphyry column from which laws used to be read, protected the basilica itself. The same evening, the communal council approved over 500,000 Lire for the reconstruction of the Campanile. It was decided to rebuild the tower exactly as it was, with some internal reinforcement to prevent future collapse, plus installing an elevator. Royal Privy Councillor and scaffolding specialist Georg Leib of Munich was the first to donate his scaffolding to rebuild St. Mark's Campanile, on 22 July 1902. Work lasted until 6 March 1912. The work was carried out by the construction firm of G.A.Porcheddu.

The new campanile was inaugurated on 25 April 1912, on the occasion of Saint Mark's feast day, exactly 1000 years after the foundations of the original building had allegedly been laid.

The original Campanile inspired the designs of other towers worldwide, especially in the areas belonging to the former Republic of Venice.

More information: Timeline

Almost identical, albeit smaller, replicas of the campanile exist in the Slovenian town of Piran and in the Croatian town of Rovinj; both were built in the early 17th century. Other, later replicas include the clock tower at King Street Station in Seattle; North Toronto Station; Brisbane City Hall, Australia; the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Kiel Germany; the Daniels & Fisher Tower in Denver; the Campanile in Port Elizabeth- South Africa; Sather Tower, nicknamed the Campanile, on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley; 14 Wall Street; and the right-hand bell-tower of St. John Gualbert in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, a landmark skyscraper located at One Madison Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, US, was designed by the architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, who based the external form and shape of the skyscraper on this Campanile.

The collapsed Campanile, Venice (1902)

Replicas of the current tower sit on the complex of The Venetian, the Venice-themed resort on the Las Vegas Strip, its sister resort The Venetian Macao, in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and in the nearly empty New South China Mall in Dongguan, China. There is a mill chimney in Darwen, Lancashire which is modelled on the Campanile in St. Mark's Square, Venice, called India Mill. Another one is in the Venice Grand Canal in Taugig City.

The Venetian Towers in Barcelona, Catalonia, are modelled on the Campanile. The Custom House Tower in Boston, MA is modelled on the Campanile.

The Italianate-style tower at Jones Beach State Park, Long Island, New York, is modelled on the Campanile.

The Sretenskaya church in Bogucharovo, Tula region, Russia is modelled on the Campanile.

More information: Visit Venice-Italy

Each of the five bells of the campanile had a special purpose. The Renghiera or the Maleficio announced executions; the Mezza Terza proclaimed a session of the Senate; the Nona sounded midday; the Trottiera called the members of the Maggior Consiglio to council meetings and the Marangona, the biggest, rang to mark the beginning and ending of working day. They are tuned in the scale of A.

The Campanile is currently undergoing a major set of building works that are forecast to last a few years. Like many buildings in Venice, it is built on soft ground, supported by wooden piles. Due to years of winter flooding, Acqua Alta, the subsoil has become saturated and the campanile has begun to subside and lean. Evidence of this can be seen in the increasing number of cracks in the masonry. In order to stop the damage, a ring of titanium is being built underneath the foundations of the campanile. The titanium ring will protect the campanile from the shifting soil and ensure that the tower subsides equally and does not lean.

Galileo Galilei famously demonstrated his telescope to the Doge of Venice Antonio Priuli on 21 August 1609 from the Campanile. There is a plaque commemorating this event at the viewing area of the tower.

The 1902 collapse of the Campanile plays a role in American novelist Thomas Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, in which an aeronautical battle between ambiguously fictitious airships results in the spectacular fall of the structure.

More information: Veneto Inside

To build a city where it is impossible to build 

a city is madness in itself, but to build there one 

of the most elegant and grandest of cities

is the madness of genius.

Alexander Herzen

FROM VENICE TO RIO DE JANEIRO, SHADOWS & LIGHTS

The Grandma with Ana Bean's Venetian Mask

Shadows...

Today, The Beans have left Venice. They have been in the city during few days enjoying the Carnevale and the most important, enjoying the kindness of Venetian people. Once you have visited Venice it's impossible to forget it for the rest of your life.

It has been a special visit, especially for Ana Bean, who is a great lover of the city, and for The Grandma who lost her lover in this city some decades ago and she has never found him. The search continues and she won't give up but time is running against her and because of this, she's sad and a little depressed and she has bought tones of Super Glue and Bitumen of Judea -nobody knows why, things of old people...-

More information: Corto in Venice (Italian Version)

Hopes...

By the way, The Grandma has received a great surprise from Ana Bean that she will never forget. She has recovered her lost faith and her interest in continuing her particular search of Corto Maltese.

How sad Venice can be.
It's too lonely to bare,

when you have lost the love

that you discovered there.

Charles Aznavour

Lights...

The family is happy because they have spent some unforgettable days in the capital of the Veneto and they're going to visit Rio de Janeiro, another must, if you're talking about spectacular carnivals.

They have been practising some English to try to full their time. It's a long flight again and they must fight the jet lag with their better guns: reading, cinema and expositions. They have revised Past Simple (To Be and To Have) and some Social English before Carol Bean had explained her experiences in Rio de Janeiro some years ago.

More information: Past Simple (To Be) & Past Simple (To Have) 

Carmen Miranda

It has been an incredible exposition accompanied by some typical Brazilian music and food. The Beans have received their first classes of samba thanks to Carol Bean, who is an excellent instructor, and have tasted some chocolate delicatessen thanks to Natalia Bean.

Finally, the family has chosen The Queen of The Beans and Carol Bean has won this recognition meanwhile, The Grandma has started to remember again and full of nostalgia has remember one of her favourite actresses of her childhood, Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian star, singer and dancer whose sister, Aurora Miranda, participated in Walt Disney's film The Three Caballeros. 

The Beans have been talking about their favourites films and the list is long: Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, Dinosaur, The Beauty and The Beast, Mulan, Brave, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Bambi, The Lion King, Balto, The Princess and the Frog... everyone has a favourite film joined to special memories of it.

More information: The Telegraph

Look at me and tell me if I don't have Brazil 

in every curve of my body. 

Carmen Miranda

RETURN TO VENICE: ASUN, BELÉN, EVA & HUGO PRATT

The Grandma ready to sail by gondola

The Grandma is in Venice. She's travelling across the channels enjoying the Venetian culture and the hospitality of its inhabitants. She arrived from Milan on The Orient Express and its first stop has been in the capital of Veneto, where local people celebrated La Biennale last September.

The Grandma loves Venice. She visits this city as times as she can because the city is full of history, art and wonderful people like Asun Holmes, Belén Collins, Eva Collins-Maltese, Marco Polo, Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese.

Download Venice-Guide

Let's go to know a little more about Venice and Hugo Pratt...

The name of the city, deriving from Latin forms Venetia and Venetiae, is most likely taken from Venetia et Histria, the Roman name of Regio X of Roman Italy, but applied to the coastal part of the region that remained under Roman Empire outside of Gothic, Lombard, and Frankish control. The name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti (Ἐνετοί). The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends.

Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese

The Grandma is a fan of Hugo Pratt's comics, especially Corto Maltese. She wants to talk about an old friend, Hugo, and her memories with him. They shared incredible moments when they travelled around the world.

Hugo Eugenio Pratt (1927-1995) was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese.

Born in Rimini, Hugo Pratt spent most of his childhood in Venice in a very cosmopolitan family environment. His paternal grandfather Joseph was of English origin. In 1937, Hugo Pratt moved with his mother to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Pratt's father, a professional Italian soldier, was captured in 1941 by British troops and in late 1942, died from disease as a prisoner of war. The same year, Hugo Pratt and his mother were interned in a prison camp at Dirédaoua, where he would buy comics from guards, and later was sent back to Italy by the Red Cross. In 1944, he was at risk of being executed as SS troops had mistaken him for a South African spy.

More information: Commune di Venezia

After the war, Pratt moved to Venice where he organized entertainment for the Allied troops. Later Pratt joined the Venice Group with other Italian cartoonists, including Alberto Ongaro and Mario Faustinelli. His character Asso di Picche (Ace of Spades) was a success.

Inside Ponte di Sospiri

In the late 1940s, he moved to Buenos Aires. He often travelled to South American destinations like the Amazon and Mato Grosso. During that period he produced his first comic book as a complete author, both writing and illustrating Anna della jungla (Ann of the Jungle).

He moved again to Italy in 1962 where he started a collaboration with the children's comic book magazine Il Corriere dei Piccoli, for which he adapted several classics of adventure literature, including Treasure Island and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

In 1967, Pratt met Florenzo Ivaldi, and with him created a comics magazine named after his character, Il Sergente Kirk, the hero first written by Héctor Oesterheld. In the first issue, Pratt's most famous story was published: Una ballata del mare salato (A Ballad of the Salt Sea), which introduced his best known character, Corto Maltese.

Corto's series continued three years later in the French magazine Pif gadget. Due to his rather mixed family ancestry, Pratt had learned snippets of things like kabbalism and lots of history. Many of his stories are placed in real historical eras and deal with real events: the 1755 war between French and British colonists in Ticonderoga or colonial wars in Africa and both World Wars. Pratt did exhaustive research for factual and visual details, and some characters are real historical figures or loosely based on them, like Corto's main friend/enemy, Rasputin. Many of the minor characters cross over into other stories in a way that places all of Pratt’s stories into the same continuum.

Pratt's main series in the second part of his career include Gli scorpioni del deserto (five stories) and Jesuit Joe.

The Grandma inside Palazzo Ducale

From 1970 to 1984, Pratt lived mainly in France where Corto Maltese, a psychologically very complex character resulting from the travel experiences and the endless inventive capacity of his author, became the main character of a comics series. Initially published from 1970 to 1973 by the magazine Pif gadget, it brought him much popular and critical success. Later published in album format, this series was eventually translated into fifteen languages.

From 1984 to 1995 Pratt lived in Switzerland where the international success that Corto Maltese sparked continued to grow. Hugo Pratt continued to travel from Canada to Patagonia, from Africa to the Pacific area. He died of bowel cancer on 20 August 1995.

Pratt has cited authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, James Oliver Curwood, Zane Grey, Kenneth Roberts, Joseph Conrad, Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville and Jack London as influences, along with cartoonists Lyman Young, Will Eisner, and especially Milton Caniff.

More information: Venice Carnival 2017

Venice is the perfect place for a phase of art to die. No other city on earth embraces entropy quite like this magical floating mall.
 

Jerry Saltz