Private Tour: Daily Life in Renaissance Venice
Venice, Italy
Trip Type: Walking Tours
Duration: 3 hours
The Renaissance in Venice was a rich and ominous time. New trade routes around the globe meant money and new products, but there was a looming threat from the Ottoman Turks. This 3-hour tour gives you an insider’s look at what life was like during this period. The guide, a scholar of the period, leads you through the city, pointing out ‘hidden’ signs, such as a symbol on a building façade or above a doorway, that reveal what life was like more than 500 years ago. Depending on time and your inclination, the tour can include the Palazzo Mocenigo, which houses the Museum of Fabric and Costume History. This is a private tour limited to six participants, so you’ll have your guide’s undivided attention.
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The Renaissance in Venice was a rich and ominous time. New trade routes around the globe meant money and new products, but there was a looming threat from the Ottoman Turks. This 3-hour tour gives you an insider’s look at what life was like during this period. The guide, a scholar of the period, leads you through the city, pointing out ‘hidden’ signs, such as a symbol on a building façade or above a doorway, that reveal what life was like more than 500 years ago. Depending on time and your inclination, the tour can include the Palazzo Mocenigo, which houses the Museum of Fabric and Costume History. This is a private tour limited to six participants, so you’ll have your guide’s undivided attention.
Travel into the past and learn about daily life in Renaissance Venice. The Renaissance, which lasted roughly from 1350 to 1550, was a prosperous time for the city, and with this private tour you’ll discover a lot about the lives of the Venetians in their golden age.
Meet your guide, a scholar of the city and the time period, in
central Venice and begin a stroll through the city and over some of its
many bridges. The guide might point out a symbol over a doorway or note
the name of a bridge and explain how this reveals a great deal about
what life was like for merchants and traders, fishmongers and artists.
Learn about the social and political functions of the city’s squares and
open spaces. And find out what some of the decorative motifs affixed to
the façades of houses and palaces show about the politics and class
issues of the time.
The tour also covers the clothing fashions, personal hygiene, etiquette, sex lives and leisure time of Venetians during the time period.
The tour also covers the clothing fashions, personal hygiene, etiquette, sex lives and leisure time of Venetians during the time period.
If time allows and you wish to see the Museum of Fabric and Costume
History, inside the Palazzo Mocenigo (entry fee not included in tour price), your guide will accompany you, and the tour will end there. Get an up close look at the
clothing of the day as the guide explains in further detail the function
of fashion during the Venetian Renaissance.
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