CONCERNING THE 5 FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT VENICE

We collected “the 5 false information about Venice” on our experience as local tourist guide,  when many clients asked about certain “aspects” of Venice which were sure to find before coming to the city on their first journey. They found them on different sources: TV programs, guide books, friends, or on the web, It’s hard to explain that those source authors maybe have never been… to Venice.

LIST OF 5 MARVELLOUS INVENTIONS

This is the list of the 5 false information about Venice:

• Venice was built on the middle of the water directly standing on top of a forest of millions of wooden piles
• Venice is deadly sinking in a range of 20-50 years, but some people advanced also an accurate number as 18, 23 or 42… so it’s worth to visit now before making submarine tours
• Venice is invaded by mosquitoes any time, any season, because it’s surrounded by water
• Venice is a stinky city, because it’s surrounded by… dirty water
• the venetian gondoliers always sing during gondola rides

definitely this is not the city you are going to experience when you arrive in Venice. Luckily the reality is a bit better, although sometimes there’re still some people looking around for their lost convictions.

HOW IT WORKS IN THE REAL VENICE

These are the 5 true information about Venice:

• Venice has been built over lagoon islands, prrecisely nowadays 124
• the increased frequency of flooding water days in the last decades is not made by subsidence, or a sea rising level, it’s the outcome of modifications in the lagoon water management
• Venice has the same quantity of mosquitoes that any Northern Italian city laying on a river Po Valley (including Milan, Turin, Verona…)
• Venice stinks on Urban Legends, often reported by people which never went on a lagoon water city in summer, where instead of car fuel smell they found seaweeds flavor
• the gondoliers are organizing typical gondola ride serenades with professional singers and musicians

WHY THESE MISUNDERSTANDINGS?

Venice became an icon city, its myth is attracting the attention of everybody around the globe, but its unusual environment and unique history, make it very difficult to understand the venetian intimate essence without having a personal live experience. Lots of media are replicating old false myths without investigating carefully the reality.

LET’S ABSOLVE AND SMILE 

We need to absolve any misguided opinion about Venice, it’s hard to forsee about a city built  in the middle of a lagoon on a unprecise age, with over 400 bridges connecting 124 islands which time to time are flooded for few minutes (or few hours), and where strange men are rowing black long flat-bottom banana’s boat.

Davide Calenda

Foto by Andrea Donà