I not only enjoy observing how a place functions in modern daily life but also appreciate the chance to understand how it developed over time. The tours I scheduled online ahead of my arrival enabled me to catch glimpses of just that: learn from those who live in Venice and have a good understanding of its history and what influenced the city or landmark's development.
Most everyone knows Venice is a beautiful place, with its narrow winding pedestrian streets, system of canals, architecture that rivals most any European city and, of course, the food! I loved walking around the old part of town with the sights, sounds and smells -- not only the car-less peaceful streets of Venice and bells from the churches ringing on the hour, but the shop owners jabbering away in their beautiful sounding Italian language.
I'm so glad I was able to reserve a room within walking distance to the
San Marco Piazza. Hotels in these old European towns certainly are not like the modern Hyatt Regency open-air-lobbies-that-extend-forever type you can find in most major cities but, rather, narrow intimate multi-level buildings with lots of character. The hotel clerk sent me up 4 flights to my room on the top floor after I checked in. Of course there is no elevator but I didn't mind because my room opened to a view of Venice from a private terrace!
What I learned while in Venice, is that
trade was the economic driving force for the city in the early years and the nobles (who were primarily merchants) had considerable wealth and influence over the lower class citizenry. The
San Marco Piazza supported these merchants, offering apartments along the south side while the west and north sides were offices and businesses. The east side of the plaza (from where I am standing in the photo) is bordered by
San Marco Basilica (
see post) and
Doge's Palace (
see post).
San Marco Campanile or what is commonly referred to as
The Bell Tower is also located in
San Marcos Piazza. There was a lot of naval activity around the port of Venice during the Middle Ages because alternate routes to India had not yet been found. This tower was the tallest building in the world until 1889 which made it easily identifiable, helping ships locate the port especially during inclement weather.
The Bell Tower continues to add to the skyline of Venice being visible from many vantage points around the city.
It didn't dawn on me that Venice was not always the beautifully scenic city it is today. For instance in the Middle Ages, the citizens of Venice primarily occupied the mainland while the islands (what we consider Venice today) only had a few buildings. Gradually more and more people moved to the islands while Venice became an extremely wealthy port city. Not only is its geographic location furthest north on the
Mediterranean Sea enabling easy shipment of goods around Europe, but the citizens didn't have to worry about intruders because they were located with surrounding water. Watchmen could observe who was approaching their island at all times! In fact, I heard Venice was the only medieval city that did not need a protective city wall.
Railway tracks were laid in the late 1800s from the mainland to the largest island in efforts to alleviate the need for boat transportation. And with the increased number of people arriving without boats, there was an increased need for pedestrian walkways and bridges. Thus started the practice of filling in, covering and sometimes adding walkways beside existing canals and the building of over 400 pedestrian bridges. Most of the places where we walk in Venice today were canals over 100 years ago!
The surplus of water in canals didn't mean residents had drinking water, so the open plazas in neighborhoods were used to collect rainwater. I first thought the main purpose of the plaza was for social gatherings but our guide informed us of their more pressing need to collect and filter drinkable water. So the rain ran off roofs and collected with the water on the plaza before moving to low-lying drains. The runoff was then filtered through sand below the surface and stored in cisterns that were opened and closed daily.
As one who loves architecture, I appreciated when our guide stopped us on our walking tour and showed a church named
Chiesa di San Zaccaria that displays an exterior from three architectural periods. This church was started in the mid-1400s by an architect who designed the first floor in the Byzantine style. A different architect came along decades later to add a Renaissance flare on the second floor (note the shell imprints) before still another architect promised a more modern Renaissance design for the remaining floors. Hence, the same church with three architectural styles as it was built from 1458 to 1490.
It was only after a few days that I began to look at Venice in a different light. This church that we walked by is probably an unknown to most since it's located in
just another neighborhood. There are no signs posted that it is an historic building and no
star highlighting its location on tourist maps that I know of. And this is what I found to be so interesting about my stay in Venice: just about everywhere I looked was yet another building of historic significance or another picture-postcard view to add to the digital slide show.
Venice is a most unique city that definitely captured the attention and amazement of this visitor!
