Italy
Venice is a marvelous city; a phantom-city, where everything that comes to sight seems unreal and illusory: the houses that rise straight fr om the water; the gondolas, steered for the most part by elderly men, always ready to perform some of the classical arias and easily outdo many of opera soloists; the Saint Marc Square with its famous loud-cooing doves and the invariable plank footpaces, stacked in expectation of the next high tide, when the square will be full of water again, it was this paradoxical and beautiful world that gave birth to the Carnival - a merry and colorful feast, signalizing the coming of spring.
At the time of the Carnival the city transforms into a fantastic world. All its dwellers put on fancy dresses, and everyone is wearing a mask, from a doge and to the last housemaid. A masked man can say and venture anything, for there is nothing but one title and one being: Signor Mask.
However, the wonderful tradition of the Venetian Carnival was completely forgotten in the 19th century. It was only after the end of World War II, when Venice became the tourist center of Europe that the Carnival was revived. Today it is the most colorful and most important event in the life of the city, which gathers fans from all over the world. The carnival lasts for about two weeks, during which the squares of Venice become stages for «historic» concerts and fireworks, the Venetian theatres stage plays dedicated to the Carnival and the ancient palazzos invite the elite for fancy-dress balls. In accordance with the tradition, a mechanical dove is launched off the bell tower of San Marco, and the Carnival opens with the oldest feast - Festa della Marie, dedicated to the liberation of Venetian girls, kidnapped, according to a legend, by Istrian pirates.
A magnificent procession goes from the Saint Peter’s Palace to the Saint Marc Square, wh ere the spectators are greeted by seven beautiful girls, the seven Marias.
Still, the true Venetians do not think of the traditional February carnival as their holiday, regarding is as a tourist entertainment. As affirmed by one of the most charming Venetians, Professor Maria Doria de Dzulliani, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Moscow, the native Venetians prefer to vacate the city, leaving it «to be harrowed by the tourists».
And the true Venetian Carnival as seen by the Venetians takes place in September, when the central canal of the city is sailed by luxurious gondolas, populated with richly dressed grandees, charming ladies and other historic characters. This holiday, kept by Venetians solely for themselves, is known as Regata storica. The costumes for this day are prepared throughout the preceding year; they are traditionally tailored from natural fabrics and decorated with precious stones. The silent medieval masks, floating in gondolas, create a specific atmosphere of grandeur and solemnity, which expresses the essence of the magnificent Venice much better than the atmosphere of the loud people’s feast.