Florence & Venice 2007

Battistero & Campanile di Giotto	Battistero & Cupola del Duomo
Duomo Dome - 'The Last Judgement' by Vasari
Copy of Michelangelo's David in Piazza della Signoria	Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio	San Lorenzo
Mercato Centrale	Mercato Centrale
Duomo from roof of Galleria degli Uffizi	Ponte Vecchio
Eurostar Italia - Florence to Venice
Venice Click on the image above for details of where we stayed in Venice
Locanda Ca' Le Vele	Palazzo Farsetti & Palazzo Loredan
Torre dell'Orologio	Palazzo Franchetti Cavalli Grand Canal towards Santa Maria della Salute
Piazza San Marco	San Giorgio Maggiore
Vaporetto leaving Accademia	Ponte di Rialto

The Carnival of Venice (or Carnevale di Venezia in Italian) was first recorded in 1268. The subversive nature of the festival is reflected in the many laws created over the centuries in Italy attempting to restrict celebrations and often banning the wearing of masks.

Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. As masks were also allowed during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise.

In 1797 Venice became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798 and it fell into a decline which also effectively brought carnival celebrations to a halt for many years. Carnival was outlawed by the fascist government in the 1930s. It was not until a modern mask shop was founded in the 1980s that Carnival enjoyed a revival.

Carnival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.