What happened on March 29 in Venice

According to the Venetian Liturgical Calendar, today is St. Eustasio Abbot’s Day.

In 2021 it’s Easter Monday.

- March 29, 1516: under the Doge Leonardo Loredan the Veneto Senate decrees: 'The Jews must all live together in the court of houses, which are in the ghetto near San Girolamo', that being an islet of Cannaregio which is accessed by two bridges, open in the morning and closed in the evening, controlled by four Christians paid by the Jews themselves; only doctors, considered the best in this profession, were allowed to exit. This way the Ghetto Nuovo (referring to the new foundry) was born, which soon proved too small because of the growing number of inhabitants. In 1541 it was decided to expand the area with the Ghetto Vecchio, which will be followed in 1663 by the Ghetto Nuovissimo; everything remained like this until 1797, when Napoleon abolished the ghetto. It seems that the name derives from the verb getàr, that is 'to melt', from the public foundries that manufacture the bombards. The term geto was pronounced by the Ashkenazi Jews of Germanic origin with the hard G that is Ghetto, the word is now used all over the world. Over the centuries, the Ghetto of Venice has been a lively center where art and culture flourish, attracting exiled Jews from all over Europe.

- March 29, 1958: the first stone is laid, of what, later inaugurated on July 31, 1961, will be the Marco Polo airport in Venice, currently one of the main Italian airports. In its place there were, since the First World War, two airfields for the air defense of Venice, Bazzera and the Ca' Tessera.

Taken from 'Almanacco di Venezia -1600 anni ab Urbe còndita' by Andrea Gersich and Edoardo Rubini

Venice, 29th March 2021