Encyclopedia • enciclopedia
A face covered with a black mask: the Moretta (The mute mask)
A mask typically of the fairer sex, particularly appreciated by men for its characteristic of not allowing the wearer to speak. What pleased the women, however, was certainly the aura of mystery and the anonymity that...
A transvestite: the Gnaga or catwoman
Some believe that the name derives from gnau, the sound a cat makes, and it was certainly a disguise that was appreciated by young homosexuals who were forced to hide their sexuality during the rest of the year....
Acqua alta (high water)
In Venice, high water is always high tide, but high tide is not always high water. Sea level is subject to a cycle of variable rise and fall over time, fluctuating globally in response to the increasing or...
Acqua granda or aqua granda (big water)
High water in Venice and the lagoon is often annoying, uncomfortable and sometimes harmful — and the current climate change is accentuating the phenomenon in frequency and intensity. However, there are two episodes...
Ala Napoleonica or Procuratie Nuovissime
The derogatory name of ‘Napoleonic Wing’ derives from the decision of Bonaparte to demolish the church of San Geminiano (a very old place of worship which was rebuilt in the XVI century by Jacopo Sansovino) in favor of...
Arsenale
The term arsenal derives from the Arabic expression "darsina'a" (which mixes the words dock and shipyard), subsequently modified into the Venetian form "darzanà" (from which the Dante coining "arzanà" derives), "...
Ateneo Veneto of Sciences, Letters and Arts
The Ateneo Veneto - according to its Statute - is: an institution that, in the exclusive pursuit of aims of social solidarity, aims to cooperate in the process and dissemination of science, letters, arts and...
Auditorium Santa Margherita (former Church)
Once used as a cinema, the Santa Margherita auditorium is now one of the headquarters of the Ca 'Foscari University, acquired in 1987. In this space, which seats up to 237 people, important conferences and university...
Balbi
A patrician family originally from Rome that did not have the good fortune to elect any doge, but can count primary ecclesiastical personalities among its descendants. The members of the family stood out for their...
Barbarigo Agostino
He was born in 1419 and was 67 years old, the younger brother of the previous Doge Marco. Widower of Isabetta Soranzo , who had given him 5 children (4 girls and a boy), he was ambitious and boasted a...
Basilica dei Santi Maria and Donato
It is assumed that the foundation of the church dates back to the 7th century when the refugees began to leave the mainland at the end of the Barbaric invasions and moved to the island of glass. The place of worship...
Basilica di San Marco
The discovery of the body of St Mark the Evangelist prompted the then Doge Giustiniano Partecipazio to sanction the construction of a church worthy of receiving the remains of the Saint. The works began in 828 and were...