Blog Posted on 22/01/2016 | Author: Karen Macarthur
Origin of Venetian Carnival
The Venetian Carnival is an annual celebration in Venice that starts around 10 days before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday. The Carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, and is world famous for the masks that the citizens of Venice use during this period.
A Brief Historical Note on Venetian Carnival
The Carnival of Venice was started way back in the 12th century, when victory was achieved against the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico de Treven. At that time the Carnival was a huge celebration where people all around Venice shed their differences and donned a mask to be treated and treat everyone as equal. But during the 18th century, the King of Austria put a stop to the festival and banned the Venetian Carnival and the use of masks completely.
But in the Year 1979, the Italian Government worked to bring back the Carnival for the purpose of reviving the cultural aspects and festivals of Venice. The Government took a lot of reforms and reviving the Carnival was the icing on the cake. Now, the Carnival is celebrated with much pomp and glory and Venice sees one of the biggest tourist flows of about 3 million people every year during this time.
The masks in the Venetian Carnival
The use of all kinds of masks has been seen in the Carnival ever since it started in the 12th century. Though it is unclear if all the different kinds of masks used today was used back then, there are a number of records that show that the carnival did use masks as widely as it is being used to now.
The Venetian Carnival uses a number of masks these days and people have the freedom of choosing what they would like to wear. Though there were masks that were meant for men only in ancient times, now most make are universal and the only criteria that is used to decide the mask of your choice is your convenience.
There are a large number of Venetian masks now in use during the carnival. The different masks each have their own story, advantage and disadvantage. Some of these masks are the Bauta, the Zanni, the Medico della peste, the Moretta and the Volto. The Volto is the traditionally used mask these days and most masks you see in the carnival are Voltos.
The Masques of San Marco Slot
If you ever feel like visiting the Venetian Carnival, but you can’t, then perhaps you can try your hand in the Masques of San Marco slot game. The game is themed on the Carnival itself and you will find everything you can in the game that has a strong relation with the Carnival. Coming from IGT, the game also has a large number of features such as stacked wilds, Free Fall features and many more. The game has a number of symbols that can make you fall in love with it like the Venetian Masks, the Sun, the Moon and a lot of stars.
