Life Style
A view on Venice
Charismatic count, architect, popular historian and television presenter, Francesco da Mosto has brought Venice alive in his programmes and books.
By Lisa Gerard-Sharp
“How can I call myself an architect, mentioning myself in the same breath as Brunelleschi and Michelangelo, when I look over my shoulder at Brunelleschi’s dome in Florence or Michelangelo’s contribution to St Peter’s, work that was done 500 years ago?” In Francesco’s Italy, the glories of Italian architecture sent Count Francesco da Mosto racing around the country in his red Alfa Romeo. But this was the flimsiest pretext for “making a journey back in time, revisiting my childhood places. As an adult, I clearly feel the cultural and artistic side far more, but I wasn’t prepared for the flood of emotions, as fresh as when I went travelling with my parents all those years ago.”
On his Grand Tour, Francesco managed a fashion makeover by Armani in Milan and a chat about cars with the Agnelli family in Turin. But in the end, despite having a Sicilian mother, he was drawn back to Venice, La Serenissima. “Here I feel at home, in a world without cars, in a world of water,” he says. “When I take a gondola – still the fastest way to cross the Grand Canal – this is a five-minute interlude that refreshes your spirit, and gives you time to savour the view, and all the individual palaces on show. I prefer Venice in November, when it’s foggy and misty, or in spring, when we go around the lagoon in a motorboat, with the children, and it feels like another world, like exploring Africa, a place that represents complete freedom.”
As an insider, Francesco revels in the paradoxical cosiness of the city, like living on a stage set: “Venice is a place where, sooner or later, you run into everyone. I had a plea from a couple of my English fans to meet in Venice. The husband begged: ‘Speaking man to man, if you can spare my wife just one minute, please do, or it will be a terrible month for me’. All I knew was that they would be in the Rialto, and they were strangers, so I set off, and they recognised me in the market. This is the intimacy of Venice.”
Francesco is a beguiling guide to hidden Venice, including his family palazzo, but is even more passionate about the city’s domestic side. “The church of San Giovanni e Paolo is so large, so silent, and Gothic, decorated with sculptures along the side - you hear your own footsteps and really feel alone with your thoughts. For art, go to the Accademia and see the intimate Carpaccio scenes, or, in Ca’ Rezzonico, a baroque palace, look at the genre paintings by Longhi, which show domestic scenes, people sipping coffee, scenes that invite you into small stories of those times.
“Try visiting Campo Santa Margherita at around midnight, or at 1am or 2am; the square and bars will still be full of people. If you’re dining in the Luna’s grand Canova restaurant, choose somewhere simpler for lunch. At Antiche Carampane (Tel. 041 5240165), near the Rialto Bridge, there is no list. They serve what is fresh, especially seafood like razor clams. I know the fish is fresh because I see the owners going to market every morning.
“In the city, really lose yourself without a map, maybe in somewhere less crowded than San Marco, like Cannaregio. Or hire a boat and explore the lagoon. I love islands like Sant’Erasmo, which feels as if it’s right in the middle of the countryside. You can escape the crowds by renting a boat for a day and going around the lagoon slowly, being careful not to make waves, or the police will stop you, as they often do to me!
Escaping the crowds is all very well, but many Venetians are escaping completely. Francesco frets about the exodus, the closure of schools, and the fact that the city population has halved since the 1950s. “So many people have already left, including my brother. Certainly, the city council should do more to preserve the essentials of daily life in Venice. Everyday shopkeepers and craftsmen are leaving the city and being replaced by more mask and glass shops. And Venice is inconvenient – even getting a small computer part means going to the mainland. But a lot of foreigners have bought houses in Venice and will form a new breed of Venetians, ones who love Venice too, which I see as positive.”
But the ‘Moses’ dam, a scheme designed to protect Venice from devastating floods, remains half-built, and mired in controversy, facing spiralling costs, and opposed by environmentalists. Francesco chooses his words carefully: “Something has to be done about the rising water levels in Venice. We are on the brink. The water touches the bridges, the salt goes in, and erosion sets in so the buildings collapse. On a personal level, I’m still restoring my family palazzo but it’s a never-ending story, as the fabric gets eaten away by salt, by water - you never know what’s going to happen next!”
Forty years ago, devastating floods engulfed both Florence and Venice but Francesco, ever the optimist, can’t see any circumstances in which he would desert his birthplace. “There was a time when I might have set sail, like my ancestor Alvise da Mosto (who discovered the Cape Verde Islands) but Venice is in my DNA so it’s too late now. Even if I went away, I would still have a Venetian imprint left behind”.
Francesco’s Italy is published by BBC Books, as is Francesco’s Venice, which comes out in paperback in February 2007.
