The Venetian Carnival
Venice has reinterpreted the ancient Greek and Roman festivals to meet the needs of the Venetian Republic, which promoted the Carnival to give to the people, especially the lower classes, a time for fun and parties. The Venetian Carnival masks guaranteed total anonymity, a sort of levelling of the social divisions that sometimes allowed citizens to even make a public mockery of authority and aristocracy. These generous licenses represented an outlet for tensions and ill-feeling that was created in society because of the strict limits imposed by morality and the public order of the Republic of Venice.
The origin of the word Carnival is traced to a document of the Doge Vitale Falier of 1094, where it was used for the first time talking about public amusements.
The Carnival in Venice history as an official public holiday, however, began only in 1296, when a decree of the Senate declared a public holiday the day before the beginning of Lent.
The Venice Carnival characters included jugglers, acrobats, musicians and dancers. They organized all kinds of events, including performances and exhibitions absorbing so much attention that Venetians business and production activities became less important. For many centuries, the celebration of the Carnival in Venice would last six weeks, from December 26 to Ash Wednesday, bringing joy and fun to the main areas of the city such as the Riva degli Schiavoni and St Markโs Square.