Venice is one of our favorite Italian cities, and we like to visit it at least once a year.
Since I saw Venice the first time with my parents at the age of 10, I always felt a strong attraction for its incredible maze of “calli” (“water-alleys” in Italian), its intricate pebbled lanes, its messy water-traffic, and the sound of chirping of seagulls and pigeons filling its squares.
Last spring, we decided with Isa to visit Venice once more to witness the wonderful Carnival that takes place in the city every February.
On this occasion, we decided to park our van in a surveilled camper area in Mestre, 5 minutes away from the train station (entering old Venice with our 7m van would have been a nightmare! eheh), planning to stay for three full days.
Before getting off to the old town center (the part of Venice on the waters), we noticed on our camping reception wall a curious map-poster of Venice (photo above) with many QR codes to scan.
After scanning a few of them (I am a simple person, if I see a QR, I am too curious not to scan it! eheh), we discovered an incredibly user-friendly mobile travel guide called “Cityscrolls”, filled with tons of interesting facts, tips, and curiosities about Venice!
As it caught our attention from the get-go, we started using this app on our 3-day city tour to explore areas that we still didn’t know about Venice and to uncover hidden areas, curiosities, and fun facts about the city.
As you know,w we like to write about curiosities around the world. We thought of writing this article for you with the most interesting facts about Venice we found, to help you see this artistic city with new, more conscious eyes, and of course, to make the best out of your next visit.
Let’s dive right in! 😀
7 Incredible Fun Facts about Venice
that will Make you go “WOW!”
1. Venice is built on over 100 tiny islands
and over 10 million wooden piles!
The moment you step into Venice for the first time, you realize what a true maze this city is!
One wrong turn away from the main beaten tourist path, and you’ll find yourself strolling around the tiny alleys for hours!
I believe getting lost randomly is the best way to truly experience and FEEL the soul of Venice: there’s so much to see where tourists don’t generally walk! Tiny alleys, tiny docks, ancient architectural marvels, finely decorated windows…
This time, while strolling around the quarter of Cannaregio and crossing bridge after bridge, one question came to my mind: “How many ‘islands are there in Venice?
Yes, I know there are big ones such as Murano (famous for the glass-making artisans), Burano (full of colourful houses), Torcello (an abandoned settlement), or San Michele (cemetery island)… but I was curious to find out how many in total.
After some research, well… we discovered that Venice is built on a whopping 118 islands, separated by 170 canals, and connected by over 400 bridges: how crazy is that!
Even more interesting, though, is that most islands were man-made by driving wooden piles into the substrate of mud and clay of the Venetian lagoon (with horizontal wooden planks and bricks on top!).
It is estimated that a total of over 10 million wooden stilts sit under the Venetian buildings we see today: basically an enormous submerged forest of wood! 😀
Extra fun fact: just the Rialto Bridge Stone is supported by 12.000 wooden piles alone!
2. Venetians take Gondolas seriously:
they MUST be black and 11-meter long exclusively!
Gondolas aren’t just tourist attractions, they are part of the centenary history of Venice and an iconic symbol of its glorious past and bequeathed traditions.
Because of this, operating a gondola is a serious profession that is heavily regulated by the city council.
First of all, to become a “Gondolier” (Gondola driver), every candidate has to complete a very rigorous formal training which includes navigation and rowing techniques, foreign languages, a Venetian history and landmarks test, and boat maintenance, among others.
If you’re a woman, that’s even harder: think that for over 900 years, gondoliers have been exclusively men, and the first licensed female gondolier (Giorgia Boscolo) only entered the profession recently in 2010.
The gongola itself also has to respect a vast series of parameters: it must be exactly 11 meters long and weigh 600kg.
It must also be asymmetrical (slightly curved to the left) to balance the single oar on the right, and it must be black (mandatory by law since the 16th century, it was a rule aimed at limiting ostentation!).
Before modern motorboats, it is estimated that Gondolas in Venice reached the number of 10.000, while today, fewer than 500 remain, mostly for ceremonial purposes and tourism.
If you get the chance to take a gondola trip in Venice, my tip is to try it: usually gondolas navigate away from traffic into smaller canals and the Venice magic you can live on-board of these historical boats is something you cannot so fully experience by foot, and so, in my honest opinion, well-worth the premium price.
If you are lucky to find a Gondolier who likes to talk (most that we’ve met actually), that will be a big plus too to learn about the gorgeous secrets of Venice!
3. Venice was an independent republic,
for over 1000 years!
If there’s one thing that shines through when you start speaking with locals, Venetian pride.
They are so proud of their history and language, and are not afraid to show it.
Venetians have a special (and funny!) dialect and vocal cadence which is immediately recognizable by all Italians.
I was born in Verona (same Veneto region as Venice), and yet my dialect is still so different from Venetian that sometimes I even have a hard time understanding myself.
This strong and characteristic local dialect comes from the fact that long before Italy was a unified nation, Venice was already a global superpower.
From 697 to 1797, it existed as the “Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia”, an independent maritime republic and economic titan, known for being extremely well-organized, stable, and diplomatically savvy.
At that time, the city was ruled by a king called “the Doge”, elected for life through a complex and corruption-resistant process involving multiple voting rounds among the aristocracy.
Unlike monarchies, power was shared among governing bodies, including the Great Council, the Council of Ten, and the Senate. It was a delicate balance of power meant to avoid despotism.
For centuries, Venice controlled vast trade networks across the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Black Seas, with colonies and trading posts stretching from Crete to Cyprus, Constantinople to Dalmatia.
Its immense wealth funded the construction of the lavish palaces, churches, and artworks we can admire while strolling around Venice today.
Venetian galleys dominated sea trade, especially in spices, silk, and glassware. For centuries, Venice was a rival of Genoa, the Ottoman Empire (way, way, way bigger than Venice!), and later, the rising Atlantic powers like Spain and Portugal (indeed, this city alone was rivaling entire nations!)
The golden era of Venice ended abruptly when Napoleon invaded the city in 1797, abolishing the Republic and handing Venice over to the Austrians.
Yet the legacy of Venetian independence can still be felt in the city’s unique identity, dialect, and pride of its citizens.
Extra fun fact: if you walk into Piazza San Marco (the main square of Venice), in front of the basilica, you can admire the “Ala Napoleonica”, a wing of the square exclusively designed to house Napoleon after he was crowned king of Italy in 1805.
4. Carnival Masks were initially worn to break social norms,
and to hide pretty much every shady business!
In most cultures, masks are used to disguise or entertain.
In Venice, though, during the height of the Republic, masks were a major instrument used to liberate.
The Carnevale di Venezia (Venetian Carnival), dating back to at least the 12th century, is a city-wide celebration that, with time, became a months-long festival where social boundaries disappeared.
Wearing a mask allowed people to act freely, regardless of class, gender, or status — nobles mingled with commoners, women disguised themselves as men, and debts could be avoided simply by hiding your face (maybe not forever, but as a momentary solution, why not ahah).
Strolling around Venice’s Carnival, it is like jumping back in time: here there are no Batmen, Supermen, Spidermen (except maybe for some little kids!) nor cheap costumes… here masks are living pieces of art, each with its meaning.
The “Bauta” for example (the classic Venetian mask with a prominent nose and chin) it was so common that it was also accepted as an official court attire, while for example the “Volto” mask (plain white face) was used for casual anonimity and the “Beak” (long beaked-mask) was believed to protect from pestilence.
By the 18th century, mask use had become so widespread that the Venetian Senate had to limit it to specific festival periods — masked gambling, seduction, and criminal activities were getting out of hand.
Skipping back to today, Venetian masks are a world-famous symbol of this city, worn not just for Carnevale but displayed in art galleries and bought by tourists as souvenirs of mystery, elegance, and freedom.
If you’re walking around Venice for the first time, my tip for you is to stop in some traditional mask-making shops and watch old artisans finely crafting these amazing pieces of art.
In some shops, there are masks on display which can reach up to 15,000 Euro (almost always no photos allowed), which will take your breath away! ;D
5. The famous lover Giacomo Casanova, was imprisoned in the Doge’s Palace, but then escaped in style!
6. The Italian word for hello “Ciao”,
comes from ancient Venetian and it meant “Slave”
I have been saying “Ciao” to greet people, and “Ciao Ciao” to say goodbye for pretty much all my life.
At the age of 32, thanks to our trip to Venice, I finally found out the etymology of this just-Italian greeting (which I never questioned before!), and it blew my mind away!
When you think about it, “Ciao” is just an Italian word even among Latin languages: in Spanish we have “Hola”, in French “Salut”, in Portuguese “Oi”… where does it come from?
Believe it or not, it comes from the Venetian word “Sciavo,” meaning “slave”.
As one local gondolier-guide told us, saying “Sciavo” was a way for “slaves” or commoners to greet their superiors and declare their good intention to serve, like “I’m your slave”.
With time, this greeting became popular among all social classes, probably in an attempt to normalize relationships and reduce social differences: after all, despite the word itself, it’s undoubtedly always nice to say to people, “I am here for you”.
In the last two centuries, the greeting became popular all over Italy, the “s” and the “v” got lost in history, and that is how our Italian “ciao” greeting was born! 😀
I am still amazed I never questioned its etymology until today… You indeed need to travel to make sense of the world, and that’s why I always repeat that traveling is so important to live a full life!
7. Venice is slowly but steadily sinking,
already 5 centimeters since I was born in 1992!
The fact that Venice is sinking isn’t new; we’ve heard it since we were kids!
In the past years, the rate and impact of the sinking have become a growing crisis.
The reasons for the city sinking are mainly two: one, the Po River keeps bringing debris from all over Italy to the Venetian lagoon, contributing to raising the level of the waters.
Two, as we’ve seen previously, the city was built on unstable ground, using millions of wooden piles driven into mud and clay.
While these have held up surprisingly well (thanks to being constantly submerged and oxygen-free), the ground itself has been compressing and lowering.
Since I was born (32 years ago!), Venice has sunk roughly 5cm.
While it might not seem much,5 centimeters is A LOT when the “acqua alta” (high tide) surges (which occurs dozens of times a year!).
In November 2019, almost 85% of the city was underwater due historic flood.
To protect the laguna, Italy launched the MOSE project, a set of 78 massive gates installed in three lagoon inlets aimed to temporarily block the sea in case of emergency.
After 23 years of construction and a cost of 5,5 billion euros (+250% compared to the initial budget), the MOSE system has been activated, and since then, the impact of abnormal floods has been vastly mitigated.
Still, experts warn this is only a temporary fix — if sea levels continue to rise, even MOSE may not save the city.
Conclusions 🙂
And here we are at the end of our curiosity article about Venice!
In this article we’ve gathered for you the most interesting facts we discovered while strolling around Venice during Carnival: from the meaning of the masks, to the architecture on stilts of the Venetian residences, to the history of the Gondolas and the Venetian Republic to the one of Casanova and the Italian “Ciao” 🙂
A big thanks for these discoveries goes to Cityscroll, the producer of that random map with a QR code, which got our attention on our first day in the reception of our campsite.
Checking their website, we discovered that CityScrolls offers a range of posters beyond the one we saw. These interactive maps are designed to help hosts and accommodations enhance the city exploration experience for their guests.
I would say that this is an absolute killer idea. I loved scanning the QR and exploring the city with a friendly and direct map guide in my pocket.
If you’re a host in Venice, and you are looking to improve the experience of your clients and your review profiles, I can recommend you check out the official website of Cityscrolls, easy to use, fresh to watch, and useful to travel smarter! 🙂
And said this, we truly reached the end, but…
Before going, as always, I want to ask you:
- Which fact surprised you the most?
- Do you know other curiosities about Amsterdam that you would like to share with us?
Let us know in the comments below! 😀
Hereafter, I will leave you a few articles that you might also be interested in checking out:
Thank you for reading, and see you in the next article!
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Really cool article and super interesting to read about the origins of the word ‘ciao’!