Venice: Guided Walking Tour of Venetian Queer History

Venice: Guided Walking Tour of Venetian Queer History

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Discover Venice's queer history stretching back to the Middle Ages on this guided walking tour. Hear stories about cross-dressing in cat masks and Rolandina, the first known Italian transgender woman.

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Highlights

Go back in time and learn the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Venice
Listen to the stories from the Middle Ages to the present days
Discover the locations where the music video of Madonna 'Like a virgin' has been shot

Description

Take a trip over the centuries through the history of the LGBTQ community in Venice, which is as labyrinthine as the city’s convoluted system of canals. Travel back to Middle Ages, when the practice of sodomy by gay or bisexual men was deemed a sin, and punished heavily by local authorities. Learn about the history of Rolandina, a transgender who was burned at stake in 1354, as several other men of all social statuses, from commoners to nobles, have being condemned for their same-sex relations in the following centuries. Travel as educated European did in the 17th, when Venice became one of the homosexual tourism destinations of the Grand Tour in 17th century. Learn how Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and The Desire and pursuit of the Whole by Frederick Rolfe made the city a place of homosexual imagery during Belle Epoque. Learn about the fascist attempt to “clean up” the city and follow the locations of a music video shot in Venice with a real lion and a gay-icon as Madonna, checking out how is gay life nowadays in the floating city.