{"id":9330,"date":"2017-08-25T11:23:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T09:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.luigi-bevilacqua.com\/?p=9330\/"},"modified":"2017-08-25T11:24:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T09:24:52","slug":"fabrics-venice-historical-regatta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luigi-bevilacqua.com\/en\/fabrics-venice-historical-regatta\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring 15th-century Venice with the Historical Regatta"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.64″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid”]Would you like to see how Venice was like in the 15th century? Then the first Sunday of September is the day you\u2019ve been waiting for. Every year, this is the date of the Historical Regatta, which gathers on the Grand Canal some competitions and a historical parade. What do Bevilacqua\u2019s silk fabrics have to do with it, you may be wondering. Well, we\u2019ve somehow taken part in the event, too.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Venice Historical Regatta?<\/h2>\n

Just so you\u2019re warned: on Sunday, September 3rd it\u2019ll be hard to find any free spot on the banks of the Grand Canal<\/strong>. Especially along the stretch between the Rialto Bridge and the main seat of Venice\u2019s University, Ca\u2019 Foscari.<\/p>\n

This is going to be the course of the competitions between pupparini, mascarete, caorline<\/em> and gondolini<\/em>. No, they aren\u2019t weird animals: they\u2019re just traditional Venetian rowboats.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll challenge one another during a competition, called \u201cregatta\u201d that dates back – at least – to the Middle Ages. Even vedutisti <\/em>(\u201cview painters\u201d) like Canaletto painted it. It\u2019s a tradition Venetians have keeping up for centuries, then. But the rivalry between the city\u2019s rowing associations has never faded.<\/p>\n

But before all of this starts, at 4.00 PM you\u2019ll go back in time. To June 6th, 1489.<\/p>\n

A re-enactment with 15th<\/span>-century costumes and fabrics<\/h2>\n

This is when Caterina Cornaro<\/strong> came back to her homeland, Venice, in grand style. But the occasion wasn\u2019t a happy one: she had been forced to renounce her role as queen of Cyprus and transfer that power to the Republic of Venice.<\/p>\n

But the Doge didn\u2019t leave her wanting for anything, when she finally accepted the abdication and returned to Venice. And the historical water procession of the Regatta can give you an idea of that splendour: dozens of boats with wonderful figureheads, gilded decorations and precious fabrics.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.0.64″ src=”http:\/\/www.luigi-bevilacqua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Regata-Storica-Venezia.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”on” overlay_icon_color=”#ffffff” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.09)” hover_icon=”%%51%%” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” max_width=”500px” force_fullwidth=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.64″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid”]And of course, there are figurants with period costumes. From the Doge to the rowers, everybody wears brightly coloured Renaissance clothes. Take the Doge<\/strong>, for example: his robe is scarlet (or gold), so with the same colour as the robes of Venetian Senators<\/a>. But you can distinguish him from the members of the Parliament, because of:<\/p>\n