The splendid church of Santa Eufemia in Grado’s historical city centre is actually a former patriarchal basilica. It was the formal seat of the Patriarch of Grado until, in 1451, the Patriarchate of Grado was suppressed and moved to Venice. By that time, the Patriarch of Grado had already for…
Grado today is a lovely seaside resort which draws scores of tourists to its wonderful beaches. Ancient Grado used to be the port of Aquileia, some ten kilometres to the north. In Antiquity, it was known as Ad Aquas Gradatas, which was shortened to Gradus during the Middle Ages. Here,…
The beautiful Romanesque basilica of Santa Maria Assunta was the official seat of the Patriarch of Aquileia until the patriarchate was finally suppressed in 1751. The basilica we see today was erected in the eleventh century, but there has been a church at this site since the early fourth century,…
Modern Aquileia is just a small and pleasant town of some 3.500 inhabitants in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Northeast Italy. Ancient Aquileia, however, was a large and prosperous city with a population that is estimated to have exceeded 100.000 souls. Founded in the year 181 BCE, Aquileia occupied…
The island of Murano has been famous for its glassmaking industry for over 700 years. In 1291, the government of Venice ordered all glassmakers in the city to move their foundries to Murano. The official reason was that this move was necessary to protect the city against fires (making glass…
A church is a place where people can find shelter. In July 2017, my better half and I found shelter in the church of Santi Maria e Donato on the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon. The previous sentence can be taken quite literally: there was a violent rainstorm…
Why, someone might ask, would anyone want a church on Torcello to be right next to the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta? This is a fair question, a question that I myself have asked as well. Unfortunately, none of my travel guides could tell me why the lovely and elegant…
When discussing the early history of Venice, we should always keep in mind that settlement in the Rialto archipelago – now the nucleus of Venice – did not start in earnest until the early ninth century. Before that time, the Venetians were scattered across the lagoon and lived on various…
Het hier besproken boek van historicus Luc Panhuysen (1962) is een dubbelbiografie over enerzijds stadhouder-koning Willem III (1650-1702), Prins van Oranje, en anderzijds koning Lodewijk XIV van Frankrijk (1638-1715), de Zonnekoning. Het boek is omvangrijk (bijna 600 pagina’s) en gedetailleerd, maar leest door de vlotte pen van de auteur en…