Venice Untour, Spring of 2001
by Edward C. Whitman, Potomac, MD
An Untourist’s Inspirations of Venice – the “Most Serene Republic”
About the author: Dr. Whitman retired in 1998 from a long career as a civilian “technocrat” in the Department of the Navy and writes today on naval history and naval affairs. His third visit to Venice in April 2001 was his first Untour.Venice is so seductive, so mesmerizing. Even for travelers on a tight schedule, determined to “cover” the city without wasting any moves, Venice will quickly take command and enforce her own time and pace. Her beauty is so overwhelming, her details so fascinating, that it doesn't take very long for even the most determined tourist to find himself lying back and surrendering to an endless succession of lovely moments that leave him wallowing lazily in the sheer visual joy of the place. And any Puritan guilt one might feel about giving in to such pure sensual delight quickly dissolves into a warm and irresistible feeling of well-being, especially after a little encouragement by the local food and wine.
Every trip up and down the Grand Canal – in rain or shine – is a new experience. The complexity of the passing scene, the extraordinary architectural variety of the palazzi, the glint of sunlight on the rippling water, fleeting glimpses into the small, intersecting canals – all of these transform what is really just mere transportation into an adventure. The same goes for striking out on foot across the less-frequented parts of the city – toward the Ghetto in the northwest, for example, or easterly, to the Isola di San Pietro. You may start out with the primary intention of getting from Point A to Point B, but almost immediately, the walk itself becomes the whole object of your morning's enjoyment. Every corner you turn offers a new vista or a charming vignette of sunlight, brick, bridges, and water... Typical atmospheric views of the small canals found "off the beaten track" in Venice.
First settled in the 6th Century by refugees from the Lombard invasions of mainland Italy who retreated to the islands of the northern Adriatic, Venice rapidly coalesced into a maritime city-state that made her fortune from the sea. Reaping rich rewards in booty, territory, and commercial advantage from the Crusades – particularly the 4th Crusade in 1204 – Venice’s empire commanded the eastern Mediterranean for nearly three hundred years before the Turks took Constantinople in 1453. Despite the subsequent, gradual loss of her overseas territories and the nearby fratricide of renaissance Italy, Venice survived as an independent republic until expunged by Napoleon in 1797, largely by creating democratic institutions that even inspired the founding fathers of our republic. And simultaneously, the Venetians put their stamp on a golden era of art and music that remains an inspiration even today.
Venice is small and self-contained, an area of only 1-1/2 by 2-1/2 miles. You can walk from one end to the other in an hour or so, although the excellent system of vaporetti – water buses – makes it even easier to get around the periphery and along the S-shaped Canale Grande that winds through the center. The city’s very compactness is a source of wonder when one reflects on the extraordinary wealth and prosperity it must have taken to produce such a cheek-by-jowl profusion of art and architecture in such a small space. And indeed, at the height of its power in the 16th century, this tiny sliver of land heavily dominated sea-borne commerce with the fabled East – sending merchant expeditions regularly into the Black Sea – while simultaneously pushing trading ventures around the boot of Italy and out through the Strait of Gibraltar to England and the Low Countries. A view of the Squero di San Trovaso in Dorsoduro, the last remaining gondola-building yard in Venice.
With the loss of much of her overseas territory to the Ottoman Empire and the undermining of her eastern trade by new and competing sea-routes around Africa, the power of Venice waned sharply after 1500. But even in the twilight of her greatness – some would say a period of dotage and decadence – Venetian art, architecture, and music exploded exuberantly. Today, the city is a treasure trove of Renaissance and Baroque artifacts. There are something like 150 churches there – and countless palazzi – and virtually every one has something to offer: a Bellini here, a Titian there; and on every side – in narrow alleyways, fronting picturesque little squares, and along canal-side quays – exquisite architectural detail flourishes in the midst of the faded ambience of past glory and the dampness of decay.
We cherish so many memorable vignettes from the two weeks we spent in “our” apartment on the Calle Sansoni, hard by the Rialto Bridge – capuccino, a warm almond brioche, and early morning shopping for our evening meal at the bustling fish and vegetable markets ... an exquisite evening of music by Vivaldi and his contemporaries in the Scuola di San Rocco surrounded on all sides by enormous paintings by Tintoretto... the remote island of Torcello and its 11th century cathedral, with a marvelous mosaic of the Last Judgement and a view from the bell-tower to die for... the ensuing seafood lunch with spaghetti con vongole amid a festive Sunday crowd on the sunny garden patio of the Trono d’Attila trattoria ... Carpaccio's great cycle of paintings of St. George, St. Tryphon, and St. Jerome in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni – and the nearby Greek Orthodox church of San Georgio dei Greci with its associated museum of Byzantine icons... the thousand year-old shipyard of the Arsenale, mentioned in Dante’s Inferno and still there... the “secret itinerary” at the Doge’s Palace with its reminiscences of the Council of Ten and Casanova... the deafening Easter-morning peal of the bells up in San Marco’s Campanile, swinging only a few feet over our heads... and finally, in the last analysis... just... walking... around...
For readers planning a stay to Venice under Untour’s excellent auspices, please take this one piece of advice: Do some preparation in advance of your trip. Study the guidebooks and the maps; get a feel for the layout of the place; have some idea about what you want to see before you get there; do some reading about the extraordinary history of the Venetian Republic. Your enjoyment and depth of understanding will repay that effort a thousand-fold. There are scads of books about Venice - but let me recommend two. If you have time to read only one, make it Jan (formerly James) Morris's The World of Venice, available in its latest revision as a Harcourt Brace paperback. Then, if you want to get a thorough grounding in the history of Venice - and have the time to devote to 600 more pages - try the incomparable James Julius Norwich's History of Venice, now the standard work in English and a Viking paperback. Hmmm... let me add one more. Sarah Quill's recent Ruskin’s Venice – The Stones Revisited (Ashgate hardcover, published last year, somewhat expensive) is a real eye-opener for knowing what to look for in Venetian architecture. It has wonderful illustrations, including many reproductions of John Ruskin's original drawings. [Ruskin (1819-1900) was the English architectural historian who first publicized the uniqueness of Venice as an urban, architectural, and cultural masterpiece. His best-known work is The Stones of Venice.]
I well remember the excitement of my first visit to “La Serenissima” with my late wife and daughter twenty years ago – and if this is your initial trip, I envy you your inevitable first reaction of surprise and delight. Enjoy! A sunlight silhouette of a gondolier with Santa Maria della Salute in the background.