What you see on your left is the water entrance of the Fenice Theatre, the wealthier theatre-goers would glamorously arrive by boat.
Built in 1792, the Fenice, meaning phoenix in Italian, has often lived up to its name, just like the bird that rises from its ashes.
In fact it first burned down in 1836 and more recently in 1996, which has become one of the most tragic moments in modern Venetian history. However, both times it was rebuilt exactly “how it was and where it was”, just like a phoenix.
Since the beginning the best composers of the age wrote and performed their operas here, among which Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. But it was Giuseppe Verdi who is most attached to the Fenice and to Venetian memory, especially since, with his patriotic operas, he became a great symbol for the Venetian struggle against the Austrians, who were ruling over the city in the mid-19th century.
For Venetians the Fenice remains a symbol of their city as well as a classy place to enjoy a night out.
