Every year, on the first Sunday of September, Venice celebrates the Regata Storica along the city"s most famous canal. The event is the highlight of the Venetian rowing calendar and consists of two parts: a historical boat parade and a series of rowing races. Festivities begin with a regal water pageant comprising a flotilla of colorful boats from the 16th century. Gondoliers are dressed in period costume as they ferry high-ranking Venetian officials up the Grand Canal in a faithful recreation of Venice"s storied maritime past. The regatta commemorates the welcome given in 1489 to Caterina Cornaro, the wife of the King of Cyprus, who renounced her throne in favor of Venice.
Venice s grand regatta
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
International Day for Biological Diversity
-
Ready for takeoff
-
Winter Olympics in Beijing
-
Happy Mothers Day!
-
Eye of the cave
-
Nothing plain about it
-
Overseas Highway, Florida Keys
-
Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
-
Happy Thanksgiving!
-
A desert arts pop-up, just popped up
-
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
-
Earthrise on Moon Day
-
Looking back at Yellowstone, 30 years after the fires
-
The Vestibule at Diocletian s Palace, Split, Croatia
-
Let the games (finally) begin!
-
A monastery in the mountain
-
Kangaroo family for National Hugging Day
-
Polar bear capital of the world
-
It’s Endangered Species Day
-
Feelin groovy on Record Store Day
-
Endangered Species Day
-
Honoring some real heroes of World War II
-
For the love of bikes
-
Male kori bustard, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
-
The mountain of 30,000 sakura
-
Celebrating Helsinki’s birthday at the Kiasma Museum
-
Dhaka, Bangladesh
-
Castle ruins on the island of Halki, Greece
-
Burns Night
-
Waimea Canyon and Waipoo Falls, Kauai, Hawaii