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The great events that marked city life took place in the Piazza: from
the ancient concio (assembly) of free men, to the arengo, where voting
was by delegation, to the Doge's official presentation from the Palace's
loggia accompanied by the cliché "questo xe el doxe, se ve piaxe" (used
and then abandoned as a polite but empty cliché) to the Doge's own official
investiture that was held in St. Mark's. Once in the Piazza the Doge,
in a sedan chair supported by dockyard workers, was carried around accompanied
by his family and throwing gold coins to spectators who quarrelled to
pick them up. Then the Doge proceeded to the Ducal Palace for the official
swearing in ceremony.
The generosity or greed of the Doge could be understood from the pace
of the ducal sedan chair; the most munificent was it seems the last Doge,
Ludovico Manin, who had large amounts of silver coins minted over night:
however, he was not loved being of acquired nobility, and as a result
the Venetian people continued to call him "el furlan" (the Friulan).
Following a circular route, which led to burial, the funeral procession
of the dead Doge also started from the Piazza and ended at St. Mark's.
Another very important civil event for the Republic was the nomination
of Generale da Mar. While the commander of ground troops was a foreigner,
the command, in the event of naval war, was always bestowed upon a Venetian
noble: the sword of command was always officially consigned by the Doge
in St. Mark's. Then from St. Mark's, across the Piazzetta, while a row
of harquebusiers shot into the air as the Doge and the new captain passed,
who boarded the commanding galley, marked by a triple stern light.
The sea and navigation had led to the city's rise to power and Venice
will never forget it, celebrating its yearly marriage to the sea in the
Sensa festival. This ceremony, which celebrated the conquest of Dalmatia,
involved the departure of the Bucintoro (official ship) from the Basin,
exalted in many paintings in which the galley seemed ever more ornate
and magnificent.
On reaching the Lido, from the Bucintoro the Doge dropped a ring into
the sea, a symbol of the city's marriage to the sea.
But the Sensa was also a big public festival: for 15 days stalls and kiosks
of all types filled the Piazza, the Piazzetta and the Quay giving life
to a market offering all manner of goods.
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