English
The race, which has been taking place in Venice in one way or another for thousands of years, is not the most important thing. The truly memorable thing about the Regata Storica, which will take place on this wonderful city on the Adriatic Sea on the 2nd of September, is the floating parade that precedes the competition (http://regatastoricavenezia.it/index.php?lang=en&pg=1&page=1). This explosion of colour and lavish unfolding of costumes and boats from a time that seems to enchant us and suddenly take us into a painting of Canaletto whose name we don´t remember, is the exact existing reconstruction of 16th century emblematic Venice, a Venice that aside from time and space makes us vibrate deeply and delicately with all of its wavy and striking beauty along the Grand Canal to the bays of St Marco.
Classified by seniority and the type of boats, it´s not actually one race but four. The most famous, fast and thrilling of them is the one known as the Campioni su Gondolini, which ends in the spectacular floating stage, that usually rises for the occasion, of the Ca´ Foscari Palace. In the two hours that are in between of the wonderful aquatic parade and the Campioni su Gondolini, three other regattas will take place consecutively that will race on the startling marine surfaces of the Grand Canal and Rialto at unsuspected speeds.
Even so, as part of the occasion of the Regata Storica, from the 29th of August until the 25th of September, you can admire a wonderful historical exhibition at the Cassa di Risparmio that documents the history of the event through a series of paintings, costumes and documents.
By no means is it a negligible history. Despite the aforementioned parade that inaugurates the event, it commemorates the welcoming that the city offered to the wife of the King of Cyprus, Caterina Comaro, in 1489, for having renounced to the throne in favour of the Republic of Venice. The first written register that we have which mentions the Venetian regattas also relates it directly with women. It dates from the mid-13th century and it inscribes them fully in the celebrations of the festivals of Mary, which is appropriate considering the context in which Europe appears in the Marian cult, for a city who finds its biggest assertion of beauty and power in a fascinating expression of oriental gothic art.
The first image that we have of the regattas, is in the shape of a map, something which we owe to Jacopo de Barbari after a visit to the city. This is 250 years ago, despite which it´s plausible that the tradition is a lot older than both documents, given that Venice has always been a city of sailors, and it´s no surprise to hear that its inhabitants are born with 6 extremities, two of which are the oars.
