Venice Book Nook

Romantic Venice Book Nook

Venice — The City That Shouldn't Exist, and Does

Venice is built on 118 islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea, connected by 400 bridges over 150 canals. It was founded in the 5th century by refugees fleeing mainland invasions, grew into the most powerful trading republic in the medieval Mediterranean, produced Titian, Tintoretto and Vivaldi, and invented the modern concept of the carnival.

It is also, by any rational engineering standard, a city that should not exist. And yet it does  more beautiful, more strange, more quietly magnificent than almost anywhere else on earth.

Romantic Venice captures the specific view that travelers remember most: a canal, a gondola, the buildings close on either side, the particular quality of light on water in late afternoon. The view that, once you've seen it in person, you spend the rest of your life trying to get back to.

The Icons of Venice — All Present

The Gondola — The Symbol of the City: The golden wooden gondola gliding along the turquoise canal is the first thing you see and the last thing you look away from. The gondola is Venice's most enduring symbol  a boat design unchanged for over 500 years, navigated by gondoliers who have memorized every canal, every bridge, every shortcut through the city. There are approximately 400 gondolas still operating in Venice today, all painted black by tradition since a 17th-century sumptuary law. This one is golden because in miniature, beauty takes precedence over regulation.

Mask of Venice — The Carnival Legacy: The "Mask of Venice" shop is one of the most culturally resonant elements of this book nook. The Venetian carnival mask has a history stretching back to the 13th century masks were worn to disguise social class, to allow nobles and commoners to interact as equals, to permit the kind of behavior that identity normally prevents. The most famous Venetian masks, the Bauta, the Columbina, the Medico della Peste (plague doctor)  are now among the most recognizable symbols of Italian art and culture worldwide. A mask shop on a Venetian canal is the most Venetian thing that could possibly exist.

Gran Teatro La Fenice — The House That Burned and Burned: The sign for La Fenice :  the legendary Venetian opera house whose name means "The Phoenix"  is visible on the left facade. La Fenice opened in 1792, burned to the ground in 1836, was rebuilt, burned again in 1996, was rebuilt again and reopened in 2004. It has hosted world premieres by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi. That it is named the Phoenix is perhaps the least surprising thing about it. Its presence in this book nook is the detail that tells you the designer knows Venice properly.