Sources say no complaint has been made to police – with expectation that garment will ‘turn up’
Lauren Sánchez packed 27 designer dresses for her wedding to the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, in Venice last week, but left with only 26 after one went missing.
The couple, who are now honeymooning in Taormina, Sicily, were wed during a star-studded three-day celebration in the lagoon city.
Continue reading...What we learned from the billionaire’s three-day, celebrity-studded nuptials which created a stir in Venice
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sánchez held their wedding ceremony in Venice’s Grand canal on Friday, the centrepiece of a three-day gala that drew dozens of stars but also protests by local activists. Here are seven takeaways.
Continue reading...Celebrity guests for nuptials of Amazon founder and former TV journalist arrive as activists continue to protest against event
The billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and the former TV journalist Lauren Sánchez have arrived in Venice as they prepare to tie the knot in a lavish three-day celebration that has divided the lagoon city.
Scores of celebrities and other members of the world’s super-rich will also join the pair in Italy, arriving on superyachts and private jets.
Continue reading...Amazon founder reportedly forced to change venue for his wedding celebrations in Italian city
Campaigners in Venice have claimed victory after Jeff Bezos was reportedly forced to change the venue for his wedding celebrations in the city as his guests started arriving on Tuesday for the three-day jamboree.
The main reception for the wedding of Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist, was due to be held in the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a majestic 16th-century building in the city centre.
Continue reading...City leaders claim days-long event will bring in riches but opponents say it will not benefit ordinary Venetians
Marta Sottoriva, a teacher in Venice, has tirelessly campaigned for various causes in her cherished lagoon city, from railing against giant cruise ships to battling soaring rents. Now she is busy preparing banners, handing out flyers and shouting through megaphones in squares as she joins dozens of activists in whipping up resistance to the “umpteenth gigantic event” she says that risks turning the world heritage site – which has long suffered from the effects of excessive tourism – into a playground for the rich.
Sottoriva is referring to the star-studded nuptials between the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist. The days-long shindig, expected to begin from 24 June, will be the biggest wedding held in Venice since George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin in 2014.
Continue reading...These seven architects hope to show First Nations design and connection to Country at the world’s most prestigious architecture exhibition
Australia’s participation in next year’s Venice Biennale remains under a cloud. With Creative Australia holding fast to its decision to cancel its commission of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Australian Pavilion might remain dark in 2026.
It is an added weight for the First Nations team who have unveiled their new creation inside the pavilion as part of Venice’s other biennale: the Venice Biennale of Architecture, held every other year in the Giardini.
Continue reading...City authorities still hope the scheme, which made an unexpected €2.4m last year, will help tackle overtourism
Venice’s entrance fee will resume from Friday, with the main novelty this year being that last-minute day-trippers will pay double.
Last year, as part of an experiment aimed at dissuading day visitors during busy periods, Venice became the first major tourist city in the world to charge people to enter.
Continue reading...Arrigo Cipriani says waves from vessels that ignore speed limits on Giudecca canal are leaving diners with wet feet
The Harry’s Bar culinary empire is as synonymous with Venice as its canals, inventing the bellini cocktail and hosting noted guests including Orson Welles, Ernest Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin during its 93 years in business.
But the lapping of the city’s waters has proved too much for the owner, Arrigo Cipriani, who is suing the city’s council and port master’s office because the feet of his well-heeled customers keep getting soaked by waves from speeding boats.
Continue reading...Tourists face fines of €25-500 if they fail to comply with measures, which also ban the use of loudspeakers
Venice will limit the size of tourist parties to 25 people from Thursday in the latest attempt to reduce the impact of crowds on the lagoon city.
Local authorities will also ban the use of loudspeakers by tourist guides in measures aimed at “protecting the peace of residents” and ensuring pedestrians can move around more freely.
Continue reading...Pope Francis, 87, met inmates, staff and volunteers at Giudecca jail during first trip outside Rome for months
The pope has met female prisoners in Venice who are stars of the Vatican’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show, and urged the women to rebuild their lives in the first ever papal visit to one of the world’s biggest art gatherings.
Pope Francis, 87, arrived by helicopter in the courtyard of the women’s prison on the island of Giudecca, amid concerns over his health. He has not travelled outside Rome since visiting the French city of Marseille in September.
Continue reading...Locals say city is against plan and accuse authorities of turning Venice into a ‘theme park’ by charging day trippers for visits
Transport & Environment, an NGO campaigning for cleaner transport, has warned about the impact of over-tourism.
”The current number of cruise ships globally is higher than it’s ever been, according to data from Clarksons Research,” the NGO said this morning.
Europe’s luxury cruise ships emit as much toxic sulphur as a billion cars, and low-cost airlines are now polluting more CO2 than ever.
The uncontrolled growth of these two sectors must come to an end.
Continue reading...Day-trippers will have to pay €5 to visit Italian city under scheme designed to protect it from excess tourism
Authorities in Venice have been accused of transforming the famous lagoon city into a “theme park” as a long-mooted entrance fee for day trippers comes into force.
Venice is the first major city in the world to enact such a scheme. The €5 (£4.30) charge, which comes into force today, is aimed at protecting the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of excessive tourism by deterring day trippers and, according to the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, making the city “livable” again.
Continue reading...Luigi Brugnaro claims he is taking a risk no other politician would take with his measure to preserve the city
The mayor of Venice has likened the “bravery” of his decision to charge day-trippers an entrance fee to the city to that of the legendary Venetian explorer Marco Polo.
Venice will become the first mayor city in the world to adopt such a measure when the long-mooted €5 (£4.30) fee comes into force later this month.
Continue reading...Cecilie Hollberg sparks outrage in remarks about capital city of Tuscan region being ‘crushed by tourism’
Mass tourism has turned Florence into a “prostitute”, one of the city museum’s directors has said, sparking outrage from politicians including Italy’s culture minister.
“Once a city becomes a prostitute, it is difficult for it to become a virgin again,” Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s statue of David, told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
Continue reading...Move aims to reduce pressure of thousands of daily visitors to Italian city and protect residents
Venice is to limit the size of tourist groups in an attempt to reduce the pressure of thousands of visitors crowding its squares, bridges and narrow walkways each day.
From June, groups visiting the Italian canal city will be limited to 25 people, or roughly half the capacity of a tourist bus, the city announced this weekend. The use of loudspeakers, popular among tour groups but “which can generate confusion and disturbances”, will be banned in the city and on nearby islands, officials said in a statement.
Continue reading...Meloni’s party is pleased by the appointment but Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has surprised before – not least by adopting Islam
When Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the incoming new president of the Venice Biennale, was once asked in an interview whether he was a fascist, the Italian rightwing journalist and public intellectual replied: “I am not a fascist. I am something else.”
After Buttafuoco was this week officially nominated to lead the oldest and largest cultural exhibition in the world, it is not just the artists, actors, architects, film-makers, dancers and musicians whose work will be shown at the coming biennales’ six events who are asking themselves what exactly that “something else” may be.
Continue reading...A number of flights delayed or redirected after unusually large number of birds ‘invade’ the runway
Venice’s Marco Polo airport has been forced to close briefly after an unusually large number of seagulls “invaded” the runway, leading flights to be delayed or redirected.
Various tools were deployed to ward off the gulls on Friday morning, including a falconer and an acoustic deterrent, according to Save, the airport’s management company.
Continue reading...Chief prosecutor Bruno Cherchi says he is proceeding with road multiple homicide investigation after tourist bus crashed off overpass in northern Italy
Massimo Fiorese, the chief executive of the transport company that owned the bus that crashed, said this morning the vehicle appeared to have been leaning on a railing, TGcom24 reported.
His comments add to speculation about the quality of infrastructure on the stretch of road where the accident took place.
Continue reading...Tourist coach catches fire after coming off the road and falling near railway lines in Mestre, northern Italy
At least 21 people have died and 18 were injured after a tourist coach crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy.
The coach was carrying a group of tourists who were returning to a campsite in Marghera after spending the day in Venice, according to reports in the Italian media.
Continue reading...‘We feel like foreigners in our own home,’ says activist as city’s population dwarfed by visitors
The number of beds available to tourists on Venice’s main island has surpassed the number of year-round residents for the first time, as a Unesco decision on the city’s future on the world heritage site list looms.
There are now 49,693 tourist beds across hotels and rented holiday homes, compared with 49,304 inhabitants.
Continue reading...