THE RESIDENCES OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SAVOY

The Royal House of Savoy was the old Bishops palace in Turin; this royal was the reign of Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy (1528-1580), but the old palace in Turin was abandoned and had been the residence of the French Viceroys who were appointed by Francis I of France in 1536. The old palace became the seat of power, and greatly expended by Emmanuel Philibert. His house had many collections of all art, animals, marbles and furniture. When he died in August 1580, the Savoyard throne was handed on to his son who name was Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (1562-1630).

A traveler wrote about the House of Savoy in 1765: the furniture matches the beauty of the apartment; one notice there, among other things, candle holders whose reflectors are mirrors set in solid silver frames worked with much taste.

In 1946, the Italian Republic claimed the palace for making the museum of life and works of the House of Savoy. Anyway, this palace was the complex buildings and representative of European monumental architecture in the 17^th to 18^th centuries by using style, dimensions, and space.  

THE ART PIC FROM TORINO

GONDOLA

The symbol of Venice that everyone desires to experience the most is traveling through the Grand Canal by gondola. The gondola was born in the early 100s, and the first appearance in paintings was in the 15^th to the 16^th centuries by Gentile Bellini, Vittore Carpaccio, and Giovanni Mansueti.

Anyway, to decorate the gondola by painting is very expensive maintenance and had many different appearances that caused many problems for the gondola. According to the Felze Association “The gondola is the world famous symbol of Venice. It can’t be modified. If we don’t define rules, in the future we risk seeing gondolas made of plastic.”

Hence, the gondola is not only a means of transportation, but it for the passengers, who can enjoy reading, drinking, eating, conversation, or romance without being seen. Traveling by gondola is opens new perspective for visiting around Venice that everyone can find exciting.Venice is the best choice for touching romantic feelings and the old civilization that made everyone fascinated and desirous of visiting this town again and again. This town is one of the best tourist destinations in the world at which everyone can find a different experience which the interesting places and the special activities. According to Rachel Spence (2004), Venice is where you can see, “The play of sunlight on the water, the shabby, the graceful palaces, the Gothic churches, and the fruit market at Rialto.”

CARNIVAL VENICE

The special activity that on one should see is the Venice Carnival and traveling through the Grand Canal by gondola. The Venice Carnival is the most world popular festival, and started since the 15 century. This oldest carnival has many foreign visitors including princes from everywhere of Europe. They enjoy this celebration while spending fortunes, and there are many places that this town offers to tourists such as cafés, brothels, wine shops, restaurants, and gambling bens. The streets of this town are overcrowded by people who wear various amazing masks and dresses. The most popular is the masked couples who wear masks like “allegorical characters”  

Although, the original costumes and masks are very simple, but today many people love to decorate costumes and masks to be more fantastic. They have creative ideas to make their dresses different from other people and try to hand-paint on the masks, too. The most common masks that everyone knowns are Bauta, Mosetta, and Larra. Many tourists used these masks during the carnival. This carnival begins before the Ash Wednesday about two weeks. The street have many artists and singers who entertain the people by singing the songs, or playing music by guitars. There is much entertain, real parties, and interesting performances that offer many tourists experiences as they were in the heaven.
According to Sebastiano Giorgi "Venice Carnival is anyway an adventure worth to be experienced; better if you can do it with native friends!" 

Carnival Venice

THE DOGE'S PALACE OR PALAZZO DUCALE

The Doge’s palace or Palazzo Ducale. It was constructed in 814 AD, and it was the significant role for the government. The architecture style was adapted from Gothic. In the 14^th and 15^th centuries, the artist by the name of Jacopo Tintoretto created an oil-painting that was 22x7 m. His work was called “The Paradise”. After that it was the biggest oil-on-canvass, too. 

The front of the Doge’s palace was very graceful. But behind has the apprehensive thing as the Bridge of Sighs or Ponte dei Sospiri. It was built in the 17 century, and was designed by Antonio Contiono. This bridge could connect the prison, and the punishers would see the outer world for the last time. Some people said, if a lover kisses under the bridge while being in the gondola at sunset, they will be lucky in love. Anyway, this scene is the most romantic, and according to the Poet Lord Byron “I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, a palace and prison on each hand.”

The next this palace, there was the Rialto Bridge or Ponte di Rialto. It was the main center for trade in the city, and millions of tourist journeyed across the Grand Canal by using the bridge. There are many shops selling about souvenirs, Venetian’s masks, and Murano glass along two sides of the bridge. In other word, this place is very famous for trading of products between buyers and sellers, because it was the important business quarter of the city.

The Rape of Europe by Paolo Veronese,1580 

Faith Adored by Doge Antonio Grimani, Tiziano Vecellio Titian

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

PIAZZA SAN MARCO

To travel in Venice, walking is the best way to sightsee around the town, because it is not to big. There are many interesting places that you shouldn't miss such as Piazza San Marco. It is the main highlights of this town  
According to Napoleon called that, “The finest drawing room in Europe” Why he said like that, because it is the center of town and it is the most beautiful square of the world. The prominent point of this place is St. Mark’s Basilica or Basilica di San Marcro, and it was the best example of Byzantine architecture. However, the great church in Constantinople was imitated by St. Mark’s church and focused on the blending of art and culture between east and west, which became the best example in the world. The inside the church is decorated by precious stones and gold, but the most important thing was the legend symbolizes the light of god and the divine.

Nighttime Procession in Piazza San Marco, 1758

Piazza Di San Macro, 1777

By  Giovanni Antonio Canaletto 

Outside to Piazza San Marco by Giovanni Antonio Canaletto

VENICE: THE MOST GLAMOROUS AND ROMANTIC TOWN IN THE WORLD

Venice was a world power for several hundred years, and it had many large accomplishments. This town was just a little part of eastern Italy and at the north end of the Adriatic Sea. It was built as part of the archipelago of 118 clustered islands; hence it had geographic characteristics different from other towns which appeal to over 5 million tourists who visit this town each year. Venice was the famous town everyone referred as the Queen of the Adriatic and is the most romantic place in the world. In addition, there are many other reasons that this town is so attractive such as the history, the interesting places and the special activities. All of these make Venice more glamorous and romantic to everyone who has the experience, when they “touch” the atmosphere of Venice.

The history of this town started from the 5^th to the 15 ^th centuries, Venice was a great trading power in Asia. The canal network was the main route for transportation. It was called the Grand Canal or Canale Grande. This canal was very important to Venetians, because they could gain many profits from tourists not only trading but also tourism. From 1275-1292, Marco Polo, and Venetian merchants went to China to trade products along the spice routes. They brought some products from the East to Italy such as cotton, silk and spices that helped Venice became the major banking and trading center of Italy. 

The wealth from trading made Venetian to be rich. According to Niccolo Machiavelli “I love my native city more than my own soul”

This town was the center of independence, because a small oligarchy controlled the political stability, and Venice’s leaders interested in not only politics but also culture and manner. Anyway, that caused this town to have on attitude about being powerful and rich. The guardians of each period were interested in art so much that affected the architecture of buildings constructed for more than 600 years from the Byzantine Era to the Renaissance Era and the Baroque era to the Neo-Classic era, and still exist today. Although, the art in every period had different style, but most architecture in Venice was the Gothic style and it was the birthplace of many famous artists as Giovanni Bellini, Canalette and Titian.

Between the 13rd to the 16th centuries, the rich merchants built many palaces lining the Grand Canal. The special were the paintings, the painters had a way to learn their skills that made some people surprised with their paintings. According to Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) “I am a gentleman, at home a sponger” He wrote his opinion in his book when he finished traveling in Venice. Until the 18^th to the 19^th centuries, Venice decided to become a part of Italy, but trading in this town had declined. Anyway, Venetians had found a new role as a resort for the visitors from all over Europe. Hence they could gain many benefits from trading and travelling that improved the quality of life to be better.