New Year in Venice

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31 December is a very important date for the majority of the populations of the world. This date commemorates the life and death of Pope St.Sylvester but above all it is the New Year that we all celebrate with a traditional New Year’s Eve party. Everybody gets ready for the midnight toast and, only the lucky ones , for a kiss under the mistletoe.

The New Year celebration is one of the oldest and most traditional event but did you know that the New Year in Venice was originally celebrated on March 25?

March 25th , 421 a.d. is the date on which the legendary founding of Venice is traced.
According to the legend  Venice was founded at twelve o’clock noon on uninhabited islands along the course of a deep channel called “Rivus Alto” (Rialto). According to another legend, Venice was founded with the establishment of a trading-post on the islands of the Rialto by three consuls sent from Padua. Of course, the first version was adopted with more support from the government of the Serenissima, as a demonstration of independence and freedom since the origins of Venice.

March 25, was also connected to the spring solstice and to the Annunciation which was placed on 25 March as well. After renouncing to count from the year 421, the New Year in Venice remained in March, but being difficult to count the years and months from the day 25, it was determined that the New Year in Venice began on the 1st of March.
Only in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the current calendar throughout Italy and in most Catholic countries including the Republic of Venice, as the old Julian calendar  accumulated a delay of about 10 days after centuries of use.

In all cultures, when we are getting ready to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the New Year, we are all following the old traditions and superstitions to leave behind things that aren’t working; it is a sort of rite of propitiation of prosperity.

For this reason, on the occasion of New Year’s Eve in Venice, lentils cannot miss. They are eaten as a symbol of good luck and prosperity because they resemble tiny coins.
Those who spend the New Year in Venice will have the opportunity to experience the thrill of the Midnight kiss in St. Mark’s Square, or the fascinating and exciting New Year’s concert at the Gran Teatro La Fenice.

The hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal organizes every year a fantastic New Year’s Eve party, with live music and a delicious menu that will take you up to the Midnight toast. And then music and dancing to celebrate the New Year.