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Scientists have recreated the face of a 16th-century woman with a brick jammed into her mouth, an object apparently wedged there to stop her from eating the dead — as Italian locals believed she was a vampire. The spooky story begins at a mass grave discovered on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo, a location used as a bubonic plague quarantine in the late 1500s and 1600s. In 2006, archeological studies found some bodies that were buried centuries ago. “When they supposedly identified a vampire, one of those responsible for the plague according to popular myth at the time, they...

Filled with wonders, Marco Polo's tales are the first European account of the Silk Road. But, 700 years after the famed Venetian merchant and explorer's death, can they be trusted? Can a man who claimed to have seen a unicorn in the Indonesian island of Sumatra be trusted? This and other similarly valid questions have cast doubt on the truthfulness of Marco Polo since the 14th Century, when his book The Travels of Marco Polo became a bestseller and was translated into dozens of languages, hand-copied in countless manuscripts and available at any lavish court in Europe. Polo's tales are...

Despite costing €9 million, the campaign has been slammed by art critics and government officials.For many, Botticelli’s Venus embodies the Renaissance ideal of beauty, but have you ever wondered what that might look like today? Italy’s ministry of tourism has launched a campaign that reimagines the iconic figure as an influencer—and it has been swiftly ridiculed on social media. “Hi there, everybody. My name is Venus,” the ad’s digitally altered protagonist announced on her Instagram. “But that’s something you probably already know. I’m 30, ok maybe just a wee bit more than that… And I am a virtual influencer. What...

Some of Venice’s smaller canals have almost dried up due a prolonged spell of low tides, frustrating boat crews and bewildering tourists. The prolonged stretch of ebb tides is linked to a lingering high-pressure weather system over much of Italy, experts say. Since the canals essentially serve as streets in car-less Venice, the phenomenon of the last days has added to the challenges of everyday life in the lagoon city. Ambulance boats have had to tie up further from some destination, forcing medical crews to carry stretchers over long distances as their vessels cannot progress up canals reduced to a...

The iconic rowing boats have been left stranded after a winter of little rain and snow resulted in unusually low water levels in the canal-filled northeastern city. Concerns also have mounted that Italy could be in for another drought after last summer’s emergency, according to the outlet, which cited scientists and environmental groups. In addition to the lack of precipitation, arid conditions in Venice are being blamed on a high-pressure system, a full moon, low tides and unfavorable sea currents. Gondolas and water buses known as vaporettos have been left high and dry as a result.

The Venice High School band will not perform on Main Street at Disney World as originally planned on Nov. 12 because Disney asked the school to cover its Native American logo, the school's principal wrote in a letter sent to parents and students Thursday. The trip to the park itself was not canceled, and the school is searching for an alternative performance to take part in, Venice High Principal Zoltan Kerestely wrote. The principal said he asked Disney twice to reconsider its demand to cover the school's logo. "Our band deserves to be honored and celebrated without having to change...

An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws — evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said. The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an...

The remains of a woman's skull with a rock thrust into its jaws is evidence of the mediaeval fear of vampires, Italian anthropologists have claimed. Scientists found the skull, with its mouth agape and a large slab of rock forced into its mouth, while excavating a mass grave dating from the Middle Ages on an island near Venice. Female "vampires" were often blamed for spreading the plague epidemics through Europe, said Matteo Borrini of Florence University. Wedging a rock or brick into the mouth of a suspected vampire was a way of preventing the person from feeding on the bodies...

Venice authorities have been trying to crack down on bad behaviour for years, with so-called “angels of decorum” patrolling the streets during summer and fines in place for people caught diving into or bathing in the canals, walking around bare-chested, feeding pigeons or dropping litter. Venezia Non è Disneyland keeps a close eye on the various infractions. In late July the group shared a video of a man jumping into the Grand Canal from a bridge, narrowly missing a passing boat. Last week Brugnaro called for “10 days in jail” for a 33-year-old Scottish tourist who was caught taking a...

Tourists who do not stay overnight in hotels or seek other accommodation, will have to sign up online for the day of their visit and pay a fee that ranges from between $3 and $10.50 per day, city officials said. Those who ignore the new rules will risk fines of more than $300. More than 80 percent of visitors to Venice arrive just for the day — more than 30,000 to 40,000 people per day, Bloomberg reported. In 2019, there were more than 19 million “day-trippers” to the city. Last year, Italy’s government approved measures last year to ban large...

On the night of May 15-16, the façade of the Redentore church -- designed by Renaissance "starchitect" Andrea Palladio, and the site of perhaps the city's most famous festival -- was vandalized. A portion of the façade -- built in white Istrian stone, from what was part of the Venetian empire when the church was constructed -- was daubed in pink, with what looked like an equation scrawled on top of it. The three-square-meter area sits beneath the statue of St. Francis of Assisi, just to the right of the entrance as you ascend its famous white-stone staircase. It follows...

A woman carrying a pickaxe in broad daylight casually walked into a Los Angeles Rite Aid, stole merchandise and threatened store employees and customers, shocking video shows. The bizarre footage captured the moment the unknown woman dragged a basket full of merchandise across the floor of the Rite Aid, in Venice, California, on Thursday morning. She seems to be headed for the door, with basket and pickaxe in hand, before stopping by the counter and telling an employee she'll come back. 'I'm not f*****g around,' she says as an employee tries to ask her to stop as she makes a...

Homeless and people with low incomes will soon be housed next to the iconic and expensive Venice Beach neighborhood after the Los Angeles City Council approved last week a 136-unit apartment building. The project, which will be built on city property that is now a parking lot, will cover 2.7 acres and the Venice Dell Community project will cost $75 million.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating an altercation Wednesday in Venice involving a group of homeless people and supporters of Larry Elder, Republican candidate for governor. No charges have yet been filed, but the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division is looking into the incident, according to LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli. Lomeli said the case had been assigned to that unit “because it’s high profile.”

Talk show host and recall candidate Larry Elder was attacked by several protestors with eggs while walking through the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Elder campaign had just begun their final leg of their campaign by instituting a statewide “Recall Express” bus tour on Tuesday, with stops in Los Angeles, Venice, Northridge, and Santa Barbara scheduled on Wednesday. His Venice stop was across from the Gold’s Gym, a popular campaign stop for many politicians due to it’s vicinity to many large homeless encampments in the area and many services catering to low-income and homeless people. In the...

Venice is planning to change rules for visitors by 2022, including charging for access and setting entrance quotas. The Italian city is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations and measures to control the influx of tourists has been debated for years. But according to Italian newspaper Stampa, visitors may have to reserve access in advance and there could be turnstiles installed at the main access points of the city's historical centre.

Venice, Italy. (Luca Micheli/Unsplash) ====================================================================================== At the bottom of the Treporti Channel, meters beneath the waves of the Venetian Lagoon, a series of surprising ancient structures has just been uncovered. Aligned for a distance of around 1,200 meters (3,937 feet), they suggest that, once upon a time, before sea levels rose and flooded the area, a Roman-era road stretched across the landscape. According to archaeologists, this is evidence that a significant Roman settlement was present centuries before the founding and settlement of Venice in the fifth century CE. "This multidisciplinary study documented the presence of an about 1,200-meter long segment...

VENICE, CA — Hunter Biden moved out of his Venice canals rental and is now pushing forward in his art career, he tells Artnet. President Biden's son has been making art since he was a child and although he has no formal training, his work is represented by dealer Georges Bergès. He also has his gallery show debut coming to New York and a private showing in Los Angeles scheduled for this fall. His abstract work highlights patterns, bold color and he tells the New York Times it's "keeping him sane." Biden prefers painting on a tabletop, horizontally. He doesn't...

Residents of Venice Beach in Los Angeles say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable. A 'catastrophic' increase in homelessness in Los Angeles has seen hundreds of tents line the beach's famous boardwalk. Business owners say they are being forced to close their doors and longterm residents are afraid to leave their homes after dark after being subjected to violent attacks and intimidation.

Italy is facing another lockdown, as the government attempts to contain a recent surge of coronavirus cases, marred by the presence of new variants. Half of Italy's 20 regions, which include the cities Rome, Milan and Venice, will be entering new coronavirus restrictions from Monday, March 15. The measures will be effective through April 6, according to a decree passed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's cabinet on Friday. In regions demarcated as "red zones" people will be unable to leave their houses except for work or health reasons, with all non-essential shops closed. In "orange zones," people will also...