The Mentor, No. 27,
Venice, the Island City
The Mentor
“A Wise and Faithful Guide and Friend”
Vol. 1 No. 27
VENICE, THE ISLAND CITY
ST. MARK’S CATHEDRAL
DOGE’S PALACE AND CAMPANILE
BRIDGE OF SIGHS
GRAND CANAL
TYPICAL VENETIAN CANAL
RIALTO BRIDGE
A Trip Around the World with
DWIGHT L. ELMENDORF, Lecturer and Traveler.
“The Pearl of the Adriatic,” she has been called. “Queenof the Sea” is another of the poetic terms applied to her. If allthe expressions that have been used by admirers to pay tributeto the beauty of Venice were gathered together, they would make a glossaryof eulogy of considerable size. It was inevitable from the beginningthat Venice should receive such homage; for she has a beauty that distinguishesher from all other cities. She is absolutely unique in picturesqueattraction and in romantic interest. There are many cities that draw theadmiration of the traveler: there is but one Venice, and anyone who hasbeen there and felt her spell cannot wonder at the worshipful admirationthat she has received from the time of her birth in the sea.
The fascination of Venice for the traveler is such that ordinary termsof appreciation are insufficient. The city takes complete possession ofone, and visitors who have surrendered to her charms are referred to ashaving the “Venice fever.” All who love beauty have had more or lessviolent attacks—the artist is most susceptible to it.
THE GRAND CANAL DURING A FÊTE
This is the main artery of traffic in Venice. It is nearly two miles long, and varies from 100 to 200 feet in width.It is adorned with about two hundred magnificent old patrician palaces.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
Venice is built on a group of little islands. At a depth of from tento fifteen feet there is a firm bed of clay; below that a bed of sand orgravel, and then a layer of peat. Artesian wells dug to the depth ofsixteen hundred feet have shown a regular succession of these beds. Onthis base, piles, where they have been used for the foundation, have becomepetrified. So the city may be described actually as having been built upfrom the bed of the sea. In its physical aspect it may be summed upby saying that Venicestands on 117 smallislands formed by somethinglike 150 canals andjoined together by 378bridges.
THE GRAND CANAL BY MOONLIGHT
There is but little inthe way of sidewalks.Occasional narrow pathsof stone skirt the canals;but in many places thewater laps the very wallsof the buildings, andtransportation is to behad only by boat. Ofcourse there are manylanes and passages among the houses; but the general effect is such aswould