[Photo on top: water parade, Festa della Sensa]
[Photo on top: water parade, Festa della Sensa]
The Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension, which in Venetian is precisely called Sensa) is celebrated on the day of Christ’s Ascension and commemorates two important events for the Serenissima Republic of Venice.
– On May 9, 1000, Doge Pietro II Orseolo came to the aid of the people of Dalmatia threatened by the Slavs;
– In the year 1177, under Doge Sebastiano Ziani, Pope Alexander III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa concluded the peace treaty in Venice that ended the centuries-old diatribe between the Papacy and the Empire.
The Sensa is brought back to the city today by the Festa della Sensa Committee, which has been celebrating the event for more than 25 years with a water parade organized together with the Coordinamento delle Associazioni Remiere di Voga alla Veneta. The procession departs from San Marco and arrives at the Lido. It is made up of traditional rowing boats, with the Serenissima at the head, the boat on which the city authorities take their places and from which the evocative throwing of a symbolic ring into the sea takes place.
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At first in fact, the rite was at once celebratory, religious and superstitious and contemplated a simple ceremony, with the Doge visiting the sea and blessing the waters of the Adriatic. Then the “marriage of the sea” was grafted onto this pre-existing rite, and since then Venice has celebrated its dominion over the sea by casting a golden ring between the waters in a mystical marriage that is renewed every year to the words “Desponsamus te mare. In signum veri perpetuique dominii.”
The program and details of the celebrations are being finalized.
Regate de la Sensa
– 08:45 Youngsters on two-oar pupparini
– 09:45 Women on two-oar mascarete
– 10:30 Men on four-oar gondolas
Festa della Sensa
– 09:00 Institutional ceremony “Adriatic Twinning of the Festa della Sensa” at the Royal Gardens (private event)
– 10:00 Start of the Sensa Procession
– 10:40 Ceremony of the Marriage with the Sea in front of the Church of San Nicolò del Lido
– 11:00 Performance by the Serenissima Choir in the area in front of the church of San Nicolò
– 11:15 Holy Mass in the church of San Nicolò del Lido.
*Timings may undergo slight modifications due to ceremonial needs.
Collateral Events
Saturday, May 11, 2024
– 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM: For Cesco: Fishing event dedicated to the late president Francesco Castelli of the I Vagantivi Association who passed away in December 2023, in collaboration with the I Vagantivi Association and Sampei Club with the support of ACSI Venice and the Civil Protection of the Lido of Venice.
Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 at Lido San Nicolò
– 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM Traditional Sensa Market: Hobbyists, creative minds, non-profit organizations, traders
– 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Kindness Stand at Global Campus Human Rights: A national initiative supported by some teachers of the F. Ongaro Comprehensive Institute, with initiatives aimed at sensitizing children and young people to the practice of kindness in everyday life, through exhibitions and workshops to be organized inside the Cloister of San Nicolò.
– 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM Food Area
– 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Visits to the Cloister of San Nicolò: Visits to the Cloister at points of fundamental interest and visit to the photographic exhibition organized by the Proloco entitled “Saio, Cannoni, Università: Il Monastero di San Nicolò ed il Tempo” (Sai, Cannons, University: The Monastery of San Nicolò and Time)
– 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM Historical Reenactments: Two days with The Historical Group of Palmanova and the Musketeers of Candia.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
– 9:20 AM from Piazzale S.M.E “The Gateway to the Sea” organized by Nordic Walking Venezia Serenissima
– 5:30 PM Bluemoon “The Pixels Concert” organized by Venezia Spiagge spa
