On March 25, 2021, Venice turns 1,600 years old. La Serenissima celebrates this landmark at a rather particular moment in history, in the midst of a pandemic that has stopped the world for a year. Usually overwhelmed by 25 million tourists and cruise ships higher than the bell tower in Piazza San Marco, Venice has found silence again, one that amplifies the nuances of the local dialect and the gentle splashes of the oars rowing through the lagoon.
Venice has returned to her surreal splendor, – a splendor that's characterized more by water than the streets being free from cars, bicycles, and scooters. Without the comings and goings of the vaporetti (water buses), the dolphins have returned to the Grand Canal. In short, at its venerable age, Venice is more beautiful than ever and it’s ready to celebrate this milestone for an entire year.
A rich program of events is scheduled through March 25, 2022, realized through collaborations with inhabitants, lovers of La Serenissima, and other cities with whom Venice has had friendly relations for years. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stated that there will be widespread celebrations that will go from the United States to the Far East, passing through all the Italian cities that still feel ideally linked to Venice today.
Venice can't wait to start welcoming back travelers, but residents believe that they need to start over in a sustainable way. An interesting proposal comes from Toto Bergamo Rossi, architect and director of Venetian Heritage, a non-profit that collects approximately 2.5€ million in funds each year for the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of the city's immense historical and artistic heritage. The idea would be to manage Venice like the Louvre, with a control room capable of tracking the numbers of tourists and imposing a mandatory limit in summer to avoid an invasion.
In fact, Venice is a museum in and of itself with an artistic, architectural, and cultural heritage of 1,600 years – one that’s well preserved and open to the public. To be contemplated with the utmost respect but also enjoyed, say, on the terraces of luxury hotels (enjoy a drink at the Gritti Palace and St Regis, or a lunch in the garden at the Belmond Hotel Cipriani), in traditional restaurants (Venetians love to go to lunch at Le Antiche Carampane, for example), taking an ombre de vin and some cichetti (wine and snacks) in the Erbaria area, or sailing in the lagoon on the Edipo Re, the boat on which director Pier Paolo Pasolini and opera legend Maria Callas once sailed. It’s been restored, and locals and travelers alike can book it to spend a day among the islands as well as for workshops on local products and for savoring chef Donato Ascani's two-star Michelin cuisine.
Photography: Giacomo Bretzel