The historic Carnival of Venice is held in Venice, Italy. The city’s annual celebration is renowned for elaborate masks, costumes and public festivities leading up to Shrove Tuesday.
The carnival’s roots reach back to medieval Venice. A public festival before Lent was documented in 1296, while the tradition became especially prominent during the Renaissance and the eighteenth century. Masks allowed people to conceal social distinctions during a period when normal rules of status and behaviour could be relaxed.
Venice’s carnival was abolished in 1797 under the rule of Francis II, and mask-wearing was subsequently restricted. The celebration was revived in 1979 as part of an effort to restore and promote Venetian history and culture. It is sometimes confused with other famous Italian carnivals, such as Viareggio or Ivrea, but the mask-filled festival associated with gondolas and St Mark’s Square is specifically Venetian.