Venipedia

Venice, a unique city in the world, is a constant destination for millions of visitors; for this reason there are hundreds of tourist guides in the city, guides that we are now used to seeing in all languages and in various forms. But in all things there is always a beginning: when did practical descriptions of Venice start to be published? When was a foreigner able to tour the city for the first time with a guide in hand?

For this we must go back more than five centuries, in 1494 (or 1495). In that year Marc’Antonio Sabellico published his “De situ urbis Venetae: libri tres”, a short work in Latin where he describes the city of Venice. In 1544 his translation into Italian was published:About the Vinegia sitewhich we present here. For the first time the city is described in an organic and synthetic way, with a systematic itinerary that runs through the Sestieri and its surroundings.

"About the Vinegia siteis a narrative walk and, not being too voluminous, it could be considered the forerunner of pocket guides, suitable for those coming from outside but also for those who live there.

A wonderful publicationin a sixteenth-century “speech” and with paths that will amaze you, accompanied by more than 250 useful notes to better understand what Sabellico writes, thanks to the precious research of Maurizio Vittoria, Venetian and former librarian of the Marciana National Library, passionate scholar of Venice, its history and its curiosities.

Accompanied by illustrations of the time and the famous “bird’s eye” engravings by Jacopo De ‘Barbari. A work within the work.. A work within a work.

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