As a religious formality Ash Wednesday obliged people to fast and as a result people needed to use up meat, butter and eggs. This became an excuse for a party that echoed pagan festivities and the word carnival was derived from the Latin for "Farewell, meat!".
After the Republic defeated the Patriarch of Aquileia in 1162 the Carnival tradition began with the slaughtering of a bull and 12 pigs in the Piazza San Marco to commemorate the victory. This celebration gradually grew and in 1268 the first use of masks for the Carnival was mentioned in documents.
It is basically a mask wearing festival but a number of other activities are also part of the event including; costume parades, gambling, and partying. Crowds of visitors get into Venice Italy taking cheap flights to Italy to be a part of this ten days celebration. There are different stories behind this mask wearing fare like it is a common belief that; masquerade was put on by everyone from general Venetians to slaves in order to celebrate winter and simultaneously to protect themselves from the chill winter, and later it took the shape of a festival. It is such a popular festival that more than 30,000 visitors come to Venice each day for Carnivals by taking Italy flights.
The Republic of Venice was not just a warring nation though. Much of the wealth of the Republic came from trading, and the city state became a popular commercial centre where particularly silk, spices and grain were bought and sold.
Much of the rich architecture of Venice was built during this time of great wealth and power, and the exquisite and lavish buildings and interiors were constructed as a display of this power and to show what a wonderful place the Republic of Venice was to the outside world.
During the Venice Carnival the streets of Venice are even more vibrant than the rest of the year and there's always something going on! Staying in the heart of historic Venice puts you right in the middle of all the action giving you easy access to those events and all of Venice's other attractions. However, the centre of Venice is the most expensive place to stay and is over budget for many visitors to the Venice Carnival.
You could also consider staying on the Mainland (Terreferma) as prices of hotels are considerably cheaper here and it's easy to get over to the heart of Venice via boats and the bridge that connects the centre of Venice to the mainland.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/venice-carnival-italy-4115824.html
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Republished by Direct From Venice an online Venetian glass jewelry store.
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