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Venice takes journey in time for annual Carnival
The streets of Venice filled with revellers who came from the four corners of the world for a taste of 18-century magic during the city's annual Carnival.
Wrapped in dark robes and golden masks, cameras in hand, tourists and others braved the biting cold to converge on Saint Mark's square, the beating heart of the Carnival, where the first parades of the year were held late on Saturday.
The water-lapped city each year plunges back in time for the two-week festival, which was set to start officially Sunday at midday and to run until Mardi Gras on February 8.
On the central Saint Mark's square, "Commedia dell'Arte" characters, Casanovas and courtesans, twirled gallantly before the cameras, as onlookers marveled at their powdered wigs and grotesque, beautiful masks.
Many couples simply wandered arm-in-arm through the crumbling masterpiece of a city, basking in the romantic intensity of the occasion.
For those wishing to join in, the city was haunted by street vendors hawking carnival costumes, while for five euros street make-up artists offered to paint faces with swirling baroque motifs, glitter and endless fake lashes.
"There is a commercial side to it, but the costumes are fascinating, there is a real sense of camaraderie, with people looking at us as if we were true Venitians," said Alain and Anna, a Parisian couple kitted out with brand new carnival outfits -- swishing black capes and golden masks.
"None of it is for real but we play along," they joked.
"It's true we sell more at Carnival, said Valentina, 33, owner of one of a dozen Venitian workshops which continue to make the traditional ceramic and papier mache masks.
"But Venice is about refinement, period costumes, we aren't selling Batman outfits or zombie masks," she said, though acknowledging that Venitian elegance comes with a high price tag.
At Casin dei nobili, Valentina's workshop, an 18th-century wig, laced with pearls, Swarowsky crystal and ostrich feathers, will set a reveller back by around 500 euros (650 dollars).
Across the road at Ca'Macana, a black velvet mask splashed with peacock, ostrich and cockerel feathers costs 260 euros.
"People come to Venice with a camera -- or with a costume if they can afford it," summed up Francesco, a dapper Carnival-goer, as he cradled the silver top of an antique walking stick.
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