Vanishing Venice > Articles

With a particularly reverent attitude to my favorite city - Venice - I present this material.

I would like to tell and, most importantly, show how this wonderful city was just some 150-200 years ago, and what it is now.

When I discovered these old photographs and postcards on the Internet, I couldn’t just believe in myself - many places are recognizable, moreover, they practically did not change in appearance. With the excitement of a child playing "find 10 differences", I still found them!

Some places baffled us, my husband and I could not find them, we also made us think and an old-timer. We printed out samples of pictures and walked with them around the city, turned to the Venetians on the street. They examined them with great pleasure and curiosity, then their faces lit up with a smile at the moment when they recognized the places. Sometimes they were also mistaken, and then, having swept more than a kilometer in the heat, we turned to the gondoliers - who really knows EVERYTHING! Gondoliers helped us a lot in the search. Thanks to them!

We tried as much as possible to photograph the modern image from the same angle from which the postcard was made, but, unfortunately, not everything was in our power - for example, to climb some bell towers of cathedrals where there is no access, or to shoot from a height of 3-4 meters land (although in some places we managed to do this, but more on that later).

So, the first view is the Fish Market or Pescaria.

Yes, the market in the snow! And I would not have believed such a thing if this year March 5, together with Tanialerro (Tanya, hello!) Did not get into a real snowstorm, we observed almost the same picture with my own eyes.

The famous view of the Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal.

The holiday depicted, as it seems to me, is a historical regatta, which takes place every first Sunday of September. The main difference that I found is that today the movement of boats on the regatta takes place in a different direction.

The famous Ca'd'Oro or Golden House.

Once it was lined with carved marble slabs covered with gilding, and under the rays of the sun it sparkled and burned. No wonder this style in architecture was called "flaming gothic". At the end of the 19th century, the owner reconstructed the palace, for which the plates were removed from the walls. Marble slabs returned to the walls, but the gilding disappeared with the restorer ...

Church il Redentore.

It was built in honor of salvation from the plague that raged in Venice in 1575-1576, from which one third of the population or almost 46 thousand people died. From the Doge's Palace, a pontoon bridge was laid across the lagoon right to the steps of the church, through which the Doge personally arrived at Mass. Every year on the third Sunday of July a grand holiday takes place: the whole lagoon is filled with boats and yachts of various stripes, the Venetians and their guests have dinner, have fun, and the holiday ends with a gorgeous fireworks display!

Rio dei Mendicanti or the Pauper River.

To the right is the city hospital, operating now. However, the mansions there, not just the wards!

I took a color photo a couple of years ago and was simply dumbfounded when I realized that I had taken the picture from almost the same point as the old photographer.

Well, we got the same angle of view!

In the square is the huge cathedral of Santi Giovanni e Paolo or Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

This basilica is also called the "Venetian pantheon"; many doges and famous people of its time rest in it. Its uniqueness, in addition to mixing architectural styles, lies in its size - the length of the cathedral is almost 102 meters, and it is located on three islands! That is, in some places under the floor of the basilica, only about 30-50 centimeters under your feet, water splashes.

When I saw the old photo, I immediately recognized this place - (I still would not know, there is an amazing pastry and coffee nearby, which I like to drink when I was in this place), but there is no 2-story residential building on the square!

Unfortunately, it was not possible to repeat the perspective of the old frame - it wasn’t possible to get to the roof, but there weren’t any open windows in order to get to know each other and take a picture ...

I took a photo with a yacht a year ago, impressed with its size (is it really Abramovich?). Therefore, seeing a postcard, we immediately recognized the place. Moreover, three years ago, the sailing ship Amerigo Vespucci entered Venice, however, he “parked” in another place. Now I’m wondering - is this the same sailboat on the old postcard or its “remake”?

Anyone who has been to Venice at least once will immediately recognize this famous view of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore from Piazza San Marco. All the same gondolas tied to wooden poles, all the same steps descending into the waters of the lagoon ...

My God, the feeling that Venice will exist forever and will not disappear!

And this is a view from the bell tower of Fr. San Giorgio Maggiore to Piazza San Marco, added only water taxis, and advertising banners of restoration work at the Doge's Palace. If I owned the technology of "aging" photos, then, probably, there would not be big differences from the original in the end!

My husband and I got so excited about the idea of searching and photographing these places from postcards that we did it both together and separately. We must pay tribute to the patience of Valera, when he, wanting to achieve maximum similarity with the old original, stood idle for a long time in the right place, waiting for a floating gondola, for example. And then suddenly someone could suddenly stand right in front of the lens or, in a rush to have time to press the button, suddenly heaped up the horizon! And again, long minutes of waiting ...

Yes Yes! Once upon a time in Venice they also rode horses, and even steps on stairs appeared relatively recently - some couple of hundred years ago! Shot at the Doge's Palace next to the Straw Bridge. Why straw? Well, now it’s clear why they brought her here to sell, there were stables nearby. As well as New Prison - prisoners also needed to use straw!

The famous wooden Academy Bridge, built as temporary, but probably everyone already knows that "there is nothing more permanent than temporary"! The bridge remained the same, they only strengthened it with iron from below, but the lanterns from 1-span turned into 3-span ones. Only the trees suddenly became large, and the tree disappeared from sight.

But the gondolas and the water bus remained the same ...

Oh, and this place (Traghetto S.M. Giglio) we found with the help of gondoliers! I knew for sure that it was on the Grand Canal, but walking along it for almost 4 km was not possible. We rode the tram back and forth several times, catching the desired angle ... no, it was not that! The distance was too close, and it turned out unrecognizably. Having strayed along the streets, we went to the pier, from where the shot was taken, we took a picture - now it's too low! Then Valera jumped onto a very shaky wooden fence, and I held his legs. Although, if he had flown off, my holdings would have been in vain ... Our risky experiments did not go unnoticed - Madame in a home dress came out of the building and very politely asked what we were doing here? Oh, I’d better let me take a shot from my window! But she lives on the first floor, so anyway, the above would not work out as we needed.

This shot haunted us - a familiar place! Well, where, where is this staircase from which the children descended directly into the waters of the canal ?!

It turns out that this is our favorite place (S. Giacomo D'orio), where we always photograph our guests! We always stop on this bridge and take a few shots in different directions, and everyone is very beautiful!

And now I sat down on the steps, got tired a little - hee hee !, I did not climb into the water.

Well, before swimming in the channels !!!

This is the only dock workshop for repair and manufacture of gondolas that has been preserved to this day, next to Dzattere (Dorsoduro quarter). Neither add nor add - the feeling that time has stopped at this place!

Openwork spiral staircase of the palace of Pietro Contarini. Photographed, of course, from below, and in the original from 3-4 floors of the opposite house. For some reason, the Venetians do not really like this place, I heard different versions, one of them says that the landlord often made lovers of his loving wife and fought with them right in the stairs, even blood was spilled.
Not sure about the veracity of this version!

This crossing (S.Sofia) through the Grand Canal near the Fish Market. Traghetto is a prototype gondola, only large in size, and is controlled by two gondoliers. The crossing is worth a penny - 50 freaky, tourists sit on narrow benches, and the Venetians cross only standing!

ABOUT! The search for this place has become a pleasant adventure for us. Carefully examining the postcard, I came to the conclusion that such a place on the canal can only be in the Cannaregio area. Enlarged the text and was able to read the inscription "Farmacia alle due Sereni". Hurrah! Google confirmed that this is really the Cannaregio area and even showed the location of the pharmacy, only ... water was not visible nearby, and it’s clearly visible on the card that the children are swimming.

Well, okay - the main thing is the direction. We went in search and arrived right in the area ... the Jewish ghetto, which for a long time, by the way, we wanted to see. The feeling that we ... arrived in Israel was full of colorful men in black suits, hats and pace, signs and inscriptions on the houses in Hebrew (or Yiddish, sorry, I don’t know). There are many restaurants and cafes with kosher food, and so I suddenly wanted to try it! Well - so be it, we had lunch, everything was very tasty! True, we did not find a pharmacy ... We turned to the local population, we were immediately shown this place - it turns out that this ancient pharmacy has long been closed, only a sign in the form of a green cross and indicated its location. Moreover, we have already passed her several times, without even noticing. The name has been preserved, but it is closed by an awning.

View of the Customs Strelka and Madonna della Salute Cathedral from the pier of St. Mark's Square.

Well ... Well, the customs after the restoration became snow-white, and judging by the postcard, before it was just brickwork. The lantern in its place, however, from 4-sided became 8-sided.

The cathedral is majestic and unchanging - a handsome man is simple!