Venice Carnevale: Flight of the Angel

[Michael Horne]

I love Venice.

Venezia may have become overrun by tourists, but I love making a regular trek to the watery city. What better time than at the annual celebration of Carnevale?

While checking out some Facebook posts on the Venetian 17-day celebration leading up to Fat Tuesday, I ran across this cool video (dripping with credits and product placements, unfortunately) showing their "flight of the angel" (called "volo dell'Angelo" in Italian).

History has it that (back in the 16th century) on Shrove Tuesday before Carnevale, a Turkish visitor walked a rope from a boat tied in Riva degli Schiavoni to the top of St. Mark's Tower, and then down to the Doge's Palace Balcony, as a tribute to the Doge.

Sometime later, the Turk was replaced with an acrobat who dressed up with wings, and hence the "flight of the Angel" has become a regular spectacle each Carnevale season. And the Italians do love a spectacle.

Check out the Venice tourism board's well done video to get a feel for this year's Volo dell'Angelo. If you've never visited Venezia during Carnevale, add it to your bucket list.

Cheers

Michael Horne, CS
Los Gatos, CA USA

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