The thousand-year history of Venice relives in this annual event that celebrates the intimate relationship of the city and the Venetians with the sea.
The Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension) was already a holiday of the Republic of Venice on the occasion of the day of the Ascension of Christ (“Sensa” in the Venetian dialect means “Ascension”) and on this occasion two important events of the Maritime Republic awaken in the Middle Ages.
the 9th May 1000AD when Doge Pietro II Orseolo helped Dalmatian inhabitants threatened by the Slavs, and the second event, connected to 1177AD, when Venice was ruled by Doge Sebastiano Ziani. At that time, Pope Alexander III and Emperor Federico Barbarossa met in Venice and stipulated a peace treaty, ending a century-old diatribe between the papacy and the Imperial Reign. The Wedding ceremony of the Sea is held in remembrance of this event each year, and, from that date each year, the Doge, on his state barge – the “Bucintoro”, would sail to San Pietro di Castello at St. Elena, where the Bishop would be on board a gilt-edged boat, waiting to bless him. To highlight the dominion of the Serenissima over the sea, the Feast ended with a type of propitiatory rite: on reaching the lagoon inlet, the Doge would throw a gold ring into the water.
The Festa della Sensa is also an opportunity to admire the regattas in the lagoon with the practice of Venetian rowing, a particular rowing technique developed in the area of the Venice lagoon and in neighboring areas that dates back to the fifth century with the first settlements urban areas in the lagoon, in which a single oarsman equipped with one or two oars can be sufficient to move the boat forward.
Santa Croce, 578