Cultural activities

May 27, 2025

Visit to the Church of St. George of the Greeks and the Museum of Icons

A guided tour of the Church of St. George of the Greeks and the Museum of Icons was organized on Tuesday, May 27.

Our guide thoroughly explained to us the reasons for the arrival of Greeks (or rather Byzantines) in Venice. As early as the 10th and 11th centuries Byzantine artisans were invited to Venice to collaborate with their wisdom in the construction and beautification of the city, and as a result of pacts between the Byzantine emperor and the Republic, privileges were granted to Venetian merchants. As a result, numerous Greeks reached the Serenissima: artisans, merchants, intellectuals, and stradioti, that is, troops in the service of Venice.

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, the arrival of Greeks in Venice intensified further and, starting, from the fall of Constantinople (1453), it was the destination of choice for many scholars who spread and promoted the rediscovery of the works of classical antiquity and the teaching of ancient Greek.
Despite the presence of a large community they were not allowed the freedom to practice Orthodox worship, which was opposed by the Catholic Church. Recognizing as the religious dogma of the state that of Rome the Venetian authorities, they were obliged to take certain repressive measures, but at the same time exercised a certain leniency so as not to antagonize a community that made an important contribution to the economic and civil progress of the Republic.

Nel 1498 fu concessa l’autorizzazione per la fondazione di una “Confraternita dei Greci Ortodossi o Nazione Greca” (Scuola di San Nicolò della nazion Greca) secondo il comune diritto di quell’epoca. Nel 1511, attraverso la mediazione degli stradioti fu infine concesso, alla Nazion Greca di acquistare un terreno per costruire una chiesa con campanile, intitolata a San Giorgio. Un breve del papa Leone X con confermò il consenso alla costruzione.
I lavori della chiesa attuale iniziarono nel 1536 e terminarono nel 1577, e le spese furono sostenute dalla Confraternita.

Many other interesting aspects of the life and presence of the Greek community in Venice were explained to us by our guide, right up to the present day. Inside the church some restorers were busy drawing up an inventory of the relics preserved there.

Afterwards, we visited the Icon Museum and were able to follow their stylistic evolution from 1400 to 1700.

The visit ended with a very pleasant lunch at our members Gigi and Giorgia’s Osteria Mascareta, washed down with Laguna wines in the glass.

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April 6, 2025

Guided tour of the Murazzi

Wednesday, April 16, 2025 Guided tour by Piero Scarpa at Lido-Alberoni: Malamocco harbor mouth, Sea defenses

The walking itinerary will visit some historical artifacts:

• ancient wall
• murazzo Zendrini (1738-1740)
• dromo
• Alberoni fort (17th cent.)
• cippus of the Provosts at the shores (1502)
• margin no. 22 of the Lagoon Con termination (1791)
• Rocchetta dam (18th cent., 2 halves)
• guardian pier no. 66 (17th cent.)
• Paleocapa Dam (1840-1845)

Through them, it will be possible to retrace the stages of formation and development, in progress of time, of the sea defenses implemented by the Serenissima Republic and the French, Austrian governments that succeeded it until the imposing northern dam was implanted, and to understand the profound impact that the set of these interventions operated on the environment of the place, determining its current appearance.

Information:
Duration of visit: about 3 hours/3 1/2 hours.
Total walking time (round trip): about 2 hours/2 hours 10.
On the way back those who wish can take the bus from the terminus (Rochetta Lighthouse) (departures at minutes 16-36-56).
Hiking shoes are recommended.

Means of transportation:
ACTV bus line A, useful departures from S. Maria Elisabetta: 9.06 (arrival 9.22), 9.26 (arrival 9.42).
Meeting place: Alberoni bus stop Ca Rossa (in Alberoni center)

Visit starts: 9:45 a.m.
Maximum number of participants: 20

Further announcement for the convivial time will follow.
For reservations via Whatsapp: 3470705693

Some photos of the visit >>
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Art in the Vineyard

October 27, 2024
St. Michael’s Island

On Sunday, October 27, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., an ex tempore painting and photography event will be held in the vineyard of St. Michael’s Island: “Art in the Vineyard,” an initiative that aims to introduce one of the most evocative and secret places in the lagoon through the works of artists.

For registration and further information ->

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TRANSISTOR VENICE

June 30, 2024
St. Michael’s Island

On Sunday, June 30, 2024, the “TRANSISTOR VENICE” meeting was held at the Laguna in the Glass headquarters in St. Michael.

TRANSISTORS are local hubs designed to accelerate the just and equitable ecological transition on cities that is inclusive of everyone and everyone, and to bring power back into the hands of communities.

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Baking course

May 28, 2024
St. Michael’s Island

On Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at St. Michael’s, our member Jutta taught a baking class.
We were able to see how she makes her delicious rye bread, which is very popular at Laguna in the Glass conviviality events.

Course videos and recipes >>

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“Venice: from the first Lazzaretto
to pandemic control 1423-2023″

Friday, November 17, 2023
Veneto Regional Council, Ferro Fini Palace

Guided tour by Professor Nelli Elena Vanzan Marchini, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition was an opportunity to learn about the health policy of the Republic of Venice.

The first part tells the story of lazarettos: the Republic of Venice in 1423 assigned one of the islands in the lagoon to the function of a hospital dedicated to plague patients, who were hospitalized and isolated here, the Lazzaretto Vecchio.
In 1468 the Lazzaretto Nuovo was established to serve as a quarantine place for people, goods and ships.
The policy of lazarettos was meant to allow the containment of contagions without blocking commercial traffic. Ensuring the trade-off between sanitary strictness and continued trade was indeed a vital issue.

The second part of the exhibition displays unpublished: identification documents that the Republic used to identify sick people and suspend trade relations with their home territories.
By 1630 the plague no longer entered Venice although it continued to rage in European states and Mediterranean ports. While medicine groped in the dark, Venetian policy used mercantile pragmatism to monitor epidemic outbreaks including through diplomatic channels and spies to prevent access to the contagion by isolating both infected and suspected goods and people.
Everything that entered and circulated in the dominions had to be equipped with Fedi di Sanità, veritable health passports, the ancestors of the modern green passes, travel documents that allowed the origin and destination of things and people to be grasped.
The Republic of Venice thus equipped itself, in the long run, with a sanitary system aimed at lowering epidemic risks.

The last part of the exhibition is devoted to images of lazarettos as they were and as they are today.

Some photos of the visit

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“Nicolo Manucci, the Marco Polo of India. A Venetian at the Mughal Court in the 17th Century.”

Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Golden Tree Foundation – Palazzo Vendramin Grimani Venice

Guided tour by our member and scientific advisor for this project, Piero Falchetta.

The exhibition is dedicated to Nicolò Manucci, a distinguished traveler of the 17th. century, who was born in Venice in 1638 and died in Pondichéry around 1720.
In a brief introduction, Falchetta, explained what the exhibition offers visitors: an illustration of Nicolò’s life and the works he produced, accompanied by objects that recreate the atmosphere of the places in which he lived.

In the video in the first room, an actor in oriental garb describes in broad strokes the route taken by Nicolò who left Venice in 1653 and his landing in the Mughal Empire.
Nicolò, the son of an apothecary, clandestinely boarded a tartan bound for Smyrna and entered the service of an English nobleman, Henry Bard, Viscount of Bellomont bound for Isfahan, on a diplomatic mission on behalf of England’s King Charles II Stuart. After an initial stop in Izmir, the journey continues overland to Isfahan, where Lord Bellomont seeks an audience with the emperor but negotiations aimed at obtaining aid for the king are unsuccessful. They then continue their journey to Surat, the largest port in the East Indies.

Henry Bard died shortly after arriving in India in 1656, and Nicholas, left alone, was forced to invent various trades to survive. He arrived in Dehli and presented himself at the court of the Mughal emperor’s eldest son, Prince Dārā Shikōh, who offered him a position in the army as an artilleryman. Involved in dynastic clashes over succession to the emperor and after many adventures and wars, Manucci moved to Lahore around 1670 and began practicing medicine. He later turned to trading, but after accumulating a decent fortune, he lost everything when the ship in which his capital was invested sank. He is then forced to return to Dehli where he is hired as a doctor in the Mughal court.

Around 1683-8 he moved to Goa, abandoned the idea of returning to Europe and, on the advice of friends, married an English widow; he led a quiet life, continuing to practice his profession as a doctor. And it is here that Manucci conceives of his memoirs, dictated to some mainly Portuguese-speaking amanuenses. After the death of his wife in 1706, Manucci moved to Pondichéry, where he died in a place called Monte Grande around 1720.

The history of memoirs and their arrival in Europe is very complex and intricate and has been studied by numerous specialists. It is beautifully explained by Piero Falchetta in the video that introduces the rooms displaying manuscripts of the work, as well as early printed editions. Viewing the entire legacy of Nicolò Manucci, including through digital media, is the heart of this exhibition and its greatest attraction. This was made possible through collaboration between the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, the Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, and the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice.

The miniatures that make up the manuscripts called the Red Book and the Black Book describe: the main characters of the Mughal history and court and their customs and traditions in the former; the social, civil and religious life of the Hindus, completely different from that of Mughal Islam, the latter. These illustrations still amaze and enchant us with their bright colors, unusual shapes, and wonderful rendering of faces and expressions. Accompanying the exhibition are carpets, weapons, paintings and art objects from different eras, evocative of the places where Manucci spent his adventure-filled life.

Some photos of the visit

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Concert by violinist Paolo Bernardo

Saturday, April 22
Church of S. Francesco della Vigna, Venice

On Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the Church of St. Francis of the Vineyard, Maestro Paolo Bernardo, professor of violin at the Bolzano Conservatory of Music and the first and only Italian violinist from the Odessa High School of Violin, performed Bach sonatas for solo violin.

The violinist wanted to dedicate this concert to Laguna in the Glass as the previous year the Association had presented “Radiosa aurora” wine from Polesana Farm on the occasion of the day dedicated to his father.
Radiosa aurora was the battle name of Mario, Paul Bernardo’s partisan father.

The concert program was as follows:

• Sonata I in G minor, BWV 1001
  Adagio;Fugue, Allegro; Sicilian; Presto
• Partita I in B minor, BWV 1002
  Allemanda-Double; Corrente-Double; Sarabanda-Double; Tempo di Borea-Double
• Partita II in D minor, BWV 1004
  Allemande; Corrente; Sarabande; Giga; Chaconne.

Some photos of the concert

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“The Court of Impregnation”

Friday, Feb. 24
Museum, workshop-shop by Luisa Conventi
Cannaregio n.100, Venice

On Friday, February 24, Laguna in the Glass members visited the museum “The Court of the impiraresse” (pearl threaders), curated by the owner Luisa Conventi.
Luisa expertly and enthusiastically showed us all the laborious stages of creating pearls cut from cylinders of glass paste, the so-called conterie.
We were able to see the various sizes and types of minute beads, typical of the work of the impiraresse, and discover their evocative and evocative names: balottini, incamisà, papagà, macà, tosca…

At the urging of those present, Luisa also touched on the techniques for working rosette and lampwork beads.
A history of the conter factories in Murano and a timely illustration of the work and social claims of the impiraresse completed the visit from a chronological point of view.

Returning to current events, we admired original necklaces and ornaments created for the various Impregnation Festivals that have been held since 2009. Finally, a short video gave us an understanding of the manual skills involved in the work, which in the case of glass bangs, includes the use of a loom.
A rich overview of a craft that has almost disappeared and is kept alive by a few passionate artisans.

Some photos of the visit

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A Romagnolo in Veneto.
Le Ciàcole de Bepi by Olindo Guerrini from Ravenna to Venice

Tuesday, January 25
Monumental Rooms of the Marciana National Library

Guided tour by Dr. Elisabetta Sciarra with readings by our member Maurizio Vittoria who edited the transcription and Italian translation of the Ciàcole.

The guided tour was an opportunity to discover author Olindo Guerrini, a versatile intellectual, poet and writer in various dialects gifted with an extraordinary goliardic streak.

The Ciàcole de Bepi are satirical poems in Venetian dialect in which Bepi is Pope Pius X, portrayed in a lighthearted and biting manner as a kind of naive country curate intent on prattling on the things of his time.

The visit continued in the museum section of the Ridotti dei Procuratori di San Marco where recently restored cartographic works are on display: the view of Venice by Jacopo de’ Barbari, Hajji Ahmaed’s heart-shaped Map of the World, presented alongside his wooden matrices, the Chinese Map of the Flemish Ferdinand Verbiest, and Fra’ Mauro’s Map of the World.

The visit ended in the room on the second floor of the Mint where the Republic’s ancient chests made of fossil wood covered with iron studs are kept.

Some photos of the visit.

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Dante in the vineyard

Sunday, October 30
St. Michael’s Vineyard

Professor Giorgio Battistella explained and recited selected passages from the Divine Comedy related to the theme of grapes, grape harvest and wine and to Venice.

Available are:

• The passages chosen and recited
• Photos of the event
• Some videos of the play

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High housing tension

Monday, August 29
Fish Market in Rialto

Alta tensione abitativa, a nonprofit association that places the revitalization of housing in Venice at the center of its action, organized on Monday, August 29, 2022, a “People’s Dinner” at the Pescheria in Rialto, that is, in one of the places “today crushed by the very strong touristification of the city,” to support the national bill drafted by the same association.

During the course of the evening, some unreleased scenes from the film Welcome in Venice were shown, introduced by director Andrea Segre. Laguna in the Glass participated with a table.

Some photos

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Radiant Aurora

Saturday, May 7

Radiant Aurora
Vigna di San Michele

Presentation of Radiosa Aurora wine
with a remembrance of Mario Bernardo,
the partisan “Radiosa Aurora,”
screenwriter and cinematographer.

Radiant Dawn (Burning Daylight) is the title of a novel by Jack London published in 1902. It was chosen as a nom de guerre by Mario Bernardo, partisan commander of the Garibaldi Brigade “Antonio Gramsci” operating in the Feltrino area of Belluno.
After the war, Bernardo became involved in cinema, both working as a screenwriter and director of photography for some of the most significant works in Italian cinematography and devoting himself to teaching filming technique.
To the partisan, the owner of the Terre di Gaia Farm, Claudio Polesana, wanted to dedicate the organic wine “Radiosa Aurora,” which Laguna nel bicchiere presented on May 7, 2022 at its headquarters on the island of S. Michele.

On the occasion, Marco Borghi, president of the Municipality of Insular Venice, scholar of the history of the Resistance and member of the Scientific Committee of IVESER, provided a portrait of the partisan during the war period, while Carlo Montanaro, curator of the eponymous archive of film material and former professor of Theory and Technique of Cinematographic Language, spoke about the man of cinema.
Bernardo’s son, Paolo, a violinist and chair of the violin department at the Bolzano Conservatory, also participated in the presentation.

Mario Bernardo passed away on February 10, 2019, just days before his 100th birthday.

Footage of the meeting is available on our videos page; given its length, it has been divided into four parts.

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Visit to St. Francis of the Vineyard

Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23
Guided tour of the Church, Convent Complex, Library and Vineyard of St. Francis of the Vineyard.
The visit began with an illustration of the church by Renzo De Antonia for the 22nd, and by Marica Michieli for the 23rd.
Friar Rino Sgarbossa, then led us lightly and enthusiastically to discover the monastic library originally, but now open to all scholars. He explained its history, growth and development, and future prospects. An educational tour, set up in an indoor room, traces the history of the birth of the book: from manuscript to printed book. Bookbinding tools and examples of movable type complete the visit.
There is no shortage of the latest technology such as digitization of nautical and geographical works and pilot books. We then entered the hall of manuscripts and ancient works where ancient and precious illuminated choir books make a fine display, and where some of the volumes that once made up the library of San Michele in Isola, among others, are preserved.
Finally, the marvel of the vineyard-garden, now cared for by a private company, where herbs and flowers together give off a delicious smell of honey and offer a beautiful panorama to our curious gaze.
We end with a taste of Laguna wines in the glass and with the hope of seeing this secluded and magical place again soon.

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Venice on a plate

Wednesday, April 13

On the occasion of the departure of our members Back and Choi, Laguna in the Glass organized“Venice on a Plate.” Members prepared some of the city’s traditional dishes, accompanied by their recipes.

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“Never Seen in Venice”

Friday, March 25
Never Seen in Venice: walk
to discover special places in Venice,
by Maurizio Vittoria.

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“Venetia 1600. Births and Rebirths.”

January 27 and February 3
Venice, Doge’s Palace.
Guided tour by Donatella Gibbin.

“The World on a Plate”

Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 24 – St. Michael’s

In order to emphasize the cosmopolitan character of the Laguna nel bicchiere Association, which it is worth noting has as its defining element the production of wine, a basic element of Italian and Mediterranean culture, we wanted to invite our foreign members (“foresti,” in Venetian) to propose the delicacies of their national cuisines to taste them all together.
Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 24 tasting in S. Michele,
with the recipes of The World in the Plate.

Fra Mauro’s Short History of the World Map

The island of St. Michael, where Laguna’s winery in the glass is located, was the site of a monastery of the Benedictine order of Camaldolese from 1212 to 1817.
Here, in the first half of the 15th century, the cartographer Fra’ Mauro lived and worked. Very little is known about him: the exact date of his death, which occurred before October 1459, is not even known. His most famous work is the famous world map, considered the pinnacle of medieval cartography, which has been kept at the Marciana National Library since 1924. A 1:1 scale reproduction of the world map is displayed in the cellar rooms.

Friar Mauro’s fame today is internationally recognized, so much so that a crater and the adjacent plateau on the visible side of the Moon have also been named after him.
On the Camaldolese cartographer, our member Piero Falchetta has produced several essays, proving to be one of the world’s foremost connoisseurs of the world map. One of these popular essays, “ABrief History of Fra’ Mauro’s World Map,” he wanted to donate to Laguna in the Glass, thus also recognizing the work of preserving historical places done by our cultural association.

The publication, promoted by Laguna in the Glass, is available at St. Michael’s, and will also be available during our traveling initiatives.

“Far Fae”

Exhibition of our member Luc François Granier

Oct. 2-12 – Claudia Corò Art Studio
Venice, Giudecca 673
Variable opening hours, visits by appointment, tel: 3405183068

Opening on the occasion of Art Night Venice 2021, Saturday, October 2 from 5 to 8 pm.

“
Ceci n’est pas une bibliothèque
“

Photo exhibition by member Marica Michieli

September 3-24 – Multimedial Laboratory Art Conservation
Venice Cannaregio 2589 – Fondamenta della Misericordia

Singular evidence of the conservation work carried out at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in 2006, photographed as the work progressed.