Italy Travel Tours Blog

One of the greatest parties in the world, certainly the most flamboyant in terms of color, cost and style, the Venice Carnival has not had the unbroken history most tourists believe.

The word “carnevale” derives from the Latin for “farewell to meat” and refers to the Christian tradition of giving up meat-eating in Lent (the time before Easter). Naturally, it’s a great opportunity to overindulge in the days preceding Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, Martidi Grasso or Mardi Gras, whatever you want to call it, with plenty of merrymaking before the ‘suffering’ begins…. It’s a tradition celebration time in many parts of the world but, with the extravagant masks and costumes, Venice does it a little differently, with a great deal of style from the comic to the sinister, the bizarre to the beautiful.

The wearing of masks for street parties in Italy long precedes Christian times. The Romans celebrated in the same vein, with even slaves being allowed to wear masks. A little like school uniforms, the mask was a social leveller offering little distinction between social classes (except the evident cost of the outfit! Sorry I’m a cynic).

The tradition of masks in Venice can be traced back to the 1200’s but the heyday of the Carnival was in the 1700’s when, decadence really set in. This was possibly as a result of Venice´s loss of mercantile power and influence due to the rise of Dutch and British trade monopoly. What better way to forget your problems than in an orgy of vice, fornication, drunkenness, dancing, music, gluttony, gambling and general irresponsibility. Sounds good to me…..

After the dastardly French, under Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Venice in 1797, the glory days of the Venetian Republic virtually ended, cash flow declined as did the carnival.

Astonishingly fascist dictators and puritans have something in common, they’re all killjoys! The final death note of the carnival was in the 1930s when Mussolini banned it totally.

Thankfully, Venetian businessmen, never ones to miss a moneymaking opportunity, revived the tradition in 1979 and the cash registers continue to ring more loudly every year.

Whatever the history, the Carnival is one of the events that no tourist should miss, it´s spectacular. However beware…. trying to find accommodation in Venice during Carnival is more than a nightmare, it´s impossible. If you want to visit and I do urge you to go, use an experienced specialist tour operator such as Allegro Holidays (part of the award-winning Blue Danube Holidays Group), they will even help you rent costumes. For dates and prices, have a look at: http://www.allegroholidays.com/Carnival_in_Venice-Package-Independent.htm

Short Tour from Sorrento to Castel del Monte Noci Lece Alberobello Matera 

2 nights 3 days

Departure Dates: May 7, 21, June 4, 18, July 2, 16, 30, Aug 13, 27, Sep 10, 24, Oct 8, 22 2014

Day 1 Wednesday: SORRENTO – CASTEL DEL MONTE – CASTELLANA CAVES – NOCI
Early morning departure for the region of Apulia, on the way, stop to visit Castel del Monte, imposing castle with eight octagonal towers at each side built in 1250 by the emperor Federico II, on a hill of 570 meters that dominates all the valley. Free time for lunch, then continue to Castellana Caves. Discovered in 1938, the entrance is represented by an enormous vertical tunnel 60 meters long.  ontinue to Nocie for dinner and overnight.

Day 2  Thursday: NOCI – LECCE – OSTUNI – ALBEROBELLO – NOCI
After breakfast we deart to the city of Lecce famouse for its white Baroque buildings form the end of the XVI century and the first half of the XVII century. We’ll visit the church of S.Oronzo, the Basilica of Santa Croce, the Celestini Palace. In the square of S.Oronzo we can admire the roman amphitheatre from the II century ac and the column of S.Oronzo, 29m high with a copper statue of the saint on the top. Departure to Ostuni, an architectural jewel commonly referred to as “the White Town” for its white walls and its typically white-painted architecture. Free time for lunch. In the afternoon, continue to Alberobello, the town of “trulli” and Unesco Heritage Site. “Trulli” are typical houses with a cone roof that were used as homes and to keep the farmer utensils. Return to the hotel in Noci. Dinner and overnight.

Day 3  Friday: NOCI – MATERA – SORRENTO OR ROME
Buffet breakfast. Departure for Matera that has gained international fame for its “Sassi”. The Sassi originated from a prehistoric settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first settlements in Italy.  Ancient Byzantine monks from Byzantine Cappadocia in today’s Turkey were some of the first inhabitants of the sassi carving their cells, houses and little churches into soft Tufa.  Many of these cave “houses” are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses. One of the peculiarity of this ancient city, is that there is a great similarity with the ancient sites in and around Jerusalem. This has caught the eye of film directors and movie studios. Principally due this reason the Sassi were the set of many film, as for example “The Gospel According to St Matthew” (Pasolini,1964), “King David” (Bruce Beresford,1985), “The Passion of the Christ” (Gibson, 2004) and “The Nativity Story” (Hardwicke, 2006). Matera is also a Unesco heritage. Time for a snack and return to Rome or Sorrento. End of the program.

Price:
Euro 382 per person based on 2 people per room
Euro 344 based on 3 people in the room
Euro 487 based on single room accommodation