Venice Day 1!

 Lilly Prestemon

Today was our first full day in Venice and all I have to say is wow! The city is incredibly beautiful and full of so much incredibly interesting history! The canals are absolutely incredible and the old architecture is exactly what I was imagining for an Italian city. I thoroughly enjoyed our tour around Venice and getting to explore a bit on our own. 


While we learned many interesting things on our tour around Venice, there are two main things that will stick with me. The first of these things is the history surrounding the industrial aspects of Venice. Getting to see the old factories and hear about what they used to produce was incredibly interesting. I also liked getting to hear about the people, especially the women, who worked in the factories. Getting to learn about how the women of Venice were so integral to the workforce was very inspiring. At the same time however, it was sad to hear just how undervalued they were. Women were viewed as the lowest workers in the factories and were payed according to that idea; they were payed very little for their work. I also think it's incredibly interesting to see how all the old factories are being utilized today. They were used today as everything from luxury hotels to university buildings. Below is a picture of an old mill and pasta factory that is today is a Hilton hotel. 

The second aspect of our tour that made an impact on me was when we walked past the entrance of the Jewish ghetto. It's so hard to think about how these people were forced to live. The discrimination the Jewish population faced during the fascist regime in Italy is absolutely unimaginable. I found it so disheartening hearing about how the Jewish people of Venice were forced into this ghetto, even when no space was left. Also the fact that there was seemingly no placard or recognition of this ghetto besides the Hebrew writing above the door was also very hard to see. Overall, I'm so glad we were able to see the entrance and hear about the history, but it's an incredibly hard topic to learn about. Below is a picture of the entrance to the ghetto. 

Venice has been amazing so far, and I can't wait to see more of the city and learn more about its history! Ciao!

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