The carnival started three days early with dances in the Corte del Fondaco dei Turchi. The Venetians love dancing and many places were popular for this activity, the most famous one was the Zattere.

People danced even in the courtyards of convents (permitted only until sunset). Some of these balls weren't free, as a painting by Gabriel Bella records - depicting a slice of Venetian life and its festivities, where young people enjoyed themselves dancing, a pipe smoker wearing a tricorn and musicians near the steps bringing joy to the party.

The Last day of Carnival
There were many various festivities that Venetians were keen to participate in during Carnival time. The reckless and bloody bullfights, cart-racing, there never-ending costume parties that were organized for the pleasure of the locals in the most beautiful buildings of Venice, or the obligatory walk (the 'liston') to show off the best masks in the city, but the greatest acts of lunacy were saved for the last day of carnival - the wildest and happiest of the whole carnival period. At the heart of festivities was St. Mark's - a veritable orgy as witnesses of the time describe it. There was much singing and dancing in the general mayhem in St. Mark's which left people exhausted and gasping for breath. These were the last few hours of freedom. The partying wasn't just in St. Mark's but went on throughout the whole city. Thousands of masqueraders ran among the streets and squares with torches lighting up the whole town. An enormous effigy wearing Pantaloon's mask was put between the two columns in the Square and then burnt while the crowd chanted,

'It's going, it's going, the carnival is going!'

as the bells of San Francesco della Vigna tolled slowly and mournfully signifying the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent...

The flight of the Turk (or the Angel)
In the mid-1500 during Carnival time a young Turkish acrobat is said to have accomplished something unheard in Venice. He walked on a rope, with the help of a balancing rod, from a boat moored in front of San Marco square all the way to the bellfry of the belltower of Saint Mark. It was an astounding act and the Venetian people were so struck by it that it became a traditional event during the annual Carnival, and it was called 'The flight of the Turk'. It usually took place on the last Thursday before Lent in front of a crowd composed of people, noblemen and the Doge.

In the following years the 'flight' was always carried out by professional acrobats until some Arsenalotti (workmen of the naval dockyard) tried to do it. They took so much pride in the Flight that they specialized in the act.

Through the years the Flight changed and became an official ceremony.

There were accidents, too. In 1759 a man named Nane Bailo, belonging to the Arsenalotti family, fell to the ground among the horrified crowd. These accidents were the reason why the acrobat was finally dismissed in favor of a big wooden dove containing flowers and confetti to sprinkle on the onlooking crowd during its descent.

This is how the Flight of the Turk became the Flight of the Dove.