What is the Comitato Festa della Sensa ?
The Comitato Festa della Sensa, under the patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, is composed of the following committees and associations: Comitato Pro San Nicolò - Comitato Attività Culturali del Convento di San Nicolò - Associazione per lo studio e lo Sviluppo della Cultura Muranese - Associazione Culturale Sportiva Murazzo.
It has the support of the following
organizations:
Circolo Canottieri Bucintoro - Associazioni Voga alla Veneta
- Circolo Canottieri Diadora Lido - Associazione Civica Venezia
Serenissima - Fameja dei Zater e Menadas del Piave - Società di
Mutuo Soccorso fra Carpentieri e Calafati Venezia -
"Cenacolo Culturale Castellano" - Comitato
Festeggiamenti San Pietro di Castello - A.S. Remiera
"Casteo" - Associazione Culturale "Arzanà".
The Organizing Committee is composed of:
President: Giorgio Paternò
Councilors: Renato Candia - Giovanni Caniato - Mario De
Biasi - Lino Farnea - Umberto Olivier - Giovanni Pierobon - Luigi
G. Serafini - Padre Silvio Beltrame.
With cooperation from:
Marina Crivellari Bizio - Claudia Meschini - Daniela Milani
Vianello - Lino Penzo - Cesare Peris - Giorgio Suppiej - Roberto
Vianello.
The committee’s headquarters are:
c/o Circolo Artistico di Venezia,
Palazzo delle "Prigioni Nuove oltre il Rio" Castello
4209 30122 Venezia Italy Phone++39 +41 5225707 - Fax ++39 +41
5203065
E-mail: sensa@sevenonline.it
Why have a Comitato Festa della Sensa ?
The vast panorama of the festivities that Venice used to have as part of its magnificent history is the most obvious and distinctive proof of the occasions the people enjoyed as a community, when all thoughts and actions were directed towards a single purpose: every citizen’s awareness that they belonged to a reality that each of them contributed towards creating and preserving. Being shrewd politicians, our sagacious ancestors had gauged at the importance of the "fê te" as a time for emphasizing the concept that the homeland was not just something abstract or purely ideal.
Of all the festivities, the Sensa (Ascension Day) was unquestionably the most original and complex. Created to commemorate two Venetian victories, it became the symbol of the city’s dominion over the Adriatic, and its ceremonial consequently became increasingly complex: a full fortnight of celebrations, trading, regattas and banquets, in addition the traditional Wedding with the Sea.
The idea behind reinstating the Festa della Sensa today is not merely to recall the past, it is tangible proof of our awareness that the past and its traditions can support us in our present life and prepare us for our future.
In 1965, an attempt was made to restore this ancient celebration thanks to the efforts of the Associazione Civica Venezia Serenissima, which was subsequently assisted by the Comitato Pro San Nicolò; the celebration experienced alternate phases of enthusiasm and neglect until May 1989, when a group of private citizens and various cultural and sports associations established the Comitato della Sensa.
Then began the arduous and demanding task of the Comitato della Sensa, which re-launched the Ascension Day celebrations in grand style in 1993, presenting an ambitious project called "A glance at the millennium 1000-2000" at the Doge’s Palace on April 25th (St. Mark’s Day) of that year.
Numerous studies and debates were needed to establish the actual, historical date for the departure of Doge Pietro Orseolo II from Venice in the year 1000 to liberate Zadar and Dalmatia from harassment by the Croats and other pirates in the eastern Adriatic.
To develop such great schemes, it is essential to have the feeling that they have the support of public opinion, the public administration and private associations. In fact, the Committee’s first goal was to get these local forces to take interest in the idea, because it could only be through an awareness of its value and an active participation in its development that they could give a hand in practical, tangible terms.
With some considerable effort, the Committee began to see some of its proposals actually implemented, in a crescendo of schemes that, within a matter of only a few years, has achieved objectives of which the Committee members are rightly proud.
- For a start, in April 1993, it advertised an "Osella della Sensa" competition among past and present, Italian and foreign students of the School of the Art of Medal-Making of the State Mint; the students reacted with enthusiasm, partly also because Venice has a place in everyone’s heart, and this led to the birth of the new "Osella della Sensa", coined by the Polygraphic Institute and State Mint. It was the 276th Osella of the Venetian Republic, no longer depicting the Doge, of course, but the eternal symbols of the city (the Arsenal and the Bucintoro). It became the ideal link between past and present.
- The Polygraphic Institute and State Mint was also responsible for making the Doge’s ring for the Wedding with the Sea, in compliance with the historical phrase "In signum veri perpetuique domini", to emphasize the indissoluble link between Venice and the Sea that remains even today.
Amidst these undeniably remarkable achievements, a host of other schemes have been developed:
- The young forces of the Venetian "Venier" Nautical Institute have created a twin-town relationship with the corresponding organization in Istanbul, the ancient Constantinople.
- A market is set up at San Nicolò in memory of the traditional fê te: it is a colorful reconstruction of the original, with 18th-century market stalls offering the produce of the local artisans and craftsmen of today.
- A treasure hunt on the water is organized, proving a charming and curious way to get closer look at the city and re-discover its secrets.
- The Lido school children get involved with various competitions designed to ensure that the Venetian citizens of tomorrow will have a thorough understanding of Venice and its Lagoon (with the support of the Estuario Nostro and Garden Club associations).
- There could not fail to be the Regatta della Sensa, where great rowing champions can vent their competitive spirit, and a Palio (or race) between the Venetian city districts (called Sestrieri) on six-oar rowing boats.
- A symbolic gold Osella is awarded to the institutions and boards whose activities in the cultural sector, in arts and crafts, or in trading have contributed to the prestige of the city.
- Not to speak of the concerts, theatrical productions, exhibitions, folkloristic events and the ceremonies for awarding acknowledgments to all those taking part.
- Though it involves a considerable expenditure, the Committee awards a silver Osella at the Rialto fish market, right in the heart of the city, to all the rowing society members taking part in the water-borne parade on Ascension Day.
- The strategy adopted by the Committee has proved successful: to restore a sense of pride in the cultural and spiritual heritage handed down over the years.
- These are all excellent signs for facing future commitments, including the reconstruction of the scenic arrangement of the last Macaruzzi fair, with its 118 shops, and of the Bucintoro. The Committee is determined to restore the two main symbols of the Sensa, i.e. the fair, by means of studies and projects that are already underway; and the Bucintoro. For the boat’s reconstruction, a Committee has been created and has gained the support of such important names in the rowing world as Franco Vianello "Crea" and Bepi Fongher, and no-one can fail to appreciate the charming gesture of the Fameja dei Zatèr e Menadàs del Piave association, which has offered the first two logs for the reconstruction of the prestigious sailing vessel.
The work of the Comitato della Sensa proceeds in line with its fundamental objective: to look to the past in order to better appreciate the present and have a positive attitude to the future. The count-down has already begun: there are just three years to go to the great celebrations of the year 2000! And the Committee is going inexorably ahead, proceeding on the course that it set in 1989, burdened with trials and troubles, but supported by its marvelous achievements so far. Among these, possibly the most important is the series of twin-town relationships between the Adriatic coastal towns, not only to recall historical events, traditions and culture, but also and above all to implement a common strategy for activities and interests having specific purposes and objectives for an expansion and revival of numerous sectors: culture, research, arts and crafts, communications and tourism.
That is why Trieste and Rijeka have been joined by Cervia, Bari ... and even Vetralla! Though this last town is not on the Adriatic, it also has a Wedding, but with the forests: the symbol of the ceremony is not the Doge’s ring, but a tree, gaily decorated to confirm the town’s rights over nature, but above all to emphasize its respect for the environment.
The Comitato della Sensa has succeeded in a far from easy enterprise, in furthering a message of friendship, cooperation and peace that extends between the cities and populations that face onto the Adriatic; the various towns take part with great enthusiasm and conviction - and the conviction that they are doing the right thing has led the Comitato to insist on its course with energy, but above all with the love it bears for a city that has given so much and that still has so much to offer.
Giorgio Paternò
President of the Comitato Festa della Sensa
