A holiday in the magical floating city of Venice is full of discoveries, no matter how many times you have visited: a romantic gondola ride, amazed by the masterpieces of Titian and Tintoretto, a concert by Vivaldi in an opulent palace, discovering the secrets of Murano glass. . . But sports fans will soon have the opportunity to enjoy something absolutely different.
Few tourists know that this historic UNESCO World Heritage Site is also home to its own football club, the proud Venezia FC, which plays in one of the most exclusive football stadiums in the world, right in the centre of the city, next to the famous Giardini. gardens. And the small team at this stadium, more accustomed to fighting bankruptcy and avoiding relegation, has just been promoted to Italy’s glittering Serie A, meaning that the 2024/25 season, which begins this week, will see the likes of Juventus and AC Milan. , Inter, Roma and Napoli arrive by boat to take their star players to the field of the modest Stadio Penzo.
Fans arrive at the stadium by boat.
This delightfully intimate 113-year-old facility is surrounded by water and can seat just 11,000 spectators, who enjoy unforgettable perspectives of the lagoon. Attending a match here is an exclusive experience, one of the true hidden secrets of the Serenissima, providing an unforeseen opportunity to combine the Venetian era with the excitement of watching some of the world’s most productive footballers alongside the colorful tifosi fans. of Venice. – gondoliers, glass blowers, butchers. Meet students and bartenders arriving aboard the vaporetto for the weekend ritual at Stadio Penzo.
Sports tourism is already a big and expensive business, offering all-inclusive packages to travelers, as evidenced by the thousands who flocked to Paris for the Olympics and the unwavering soccer enthusiasts who adhere to their groups. all over the world. But attending a Venezia FC football match is a pleasure that any guest can enjoy. Living in Venice and attending last season’s big prom parties, I met and welcomed many enthusiastic families and groups of friends from places near and far (New York, Tokyo, London, Amsterdam, Salzburg). of the noisy but friendly march of the Venice supporters. at the Penzo stadium. Tickets can be booked online without any hassle, either at the noisy Curva Sud stand, favored by passionate Ultra enthusiasts, or at one of two discreet stands where the chanting and chanting is a little less lively. And for those who come one day to watch football, the value of a suitable ticket exempts them from the Venice municipal tax.
This modest stadium will soon host some of Italy’s teams.
Between sightseeing and savoring the city’s typical cicchetti tapas in a historic tavern, known as bacari, take the time to stop at the official Venezia FC store, right next to the Rialto Bridge (Calle Larga Mazzini 4800/b) and acquire one of the Venezia FC caps. unique dishes. orange, black and green t-shirts or scarves to blend in with the stadium on game day.
The growing foreign interest in the team is part of a master plan through the team’s U. S. owners, led by Duncan Niederauer, the former chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, who has pumped in cash to recruit promising players from as far away as the United States and Indonesia. , increase the team’s social media presence and hire a famous Munich-based design firm to redesign the shirts.
This newfound good fortune and attention delights Venice’s unwavering followers, who come not only from the city itself, but also from the surrounding Venetian countryside, rediscovering their Venetian roots each time they make a pilgrimage to see a fitArray. Among those enthusiasts is Debora Barbiero. and Riccardo Storto, who regularly attend the festivals with their homemade banners. “We live on the mainland, in Noale, and it’s lovely to come to Venice to see our team take the vaporetto in front of the palaces on the Grand Canal,” explains Debora. “Here we see so many foreigners filling the televised sports bars. Of course, next season many of them will want to enjoy watching a game.
Venezia FC enthusiastic fans
Those who do so will find a carnival-like atmosphere, filled with families and almost all home fans, as rival fans are limited to one end of the stadium and transported to and from Venice on a flotilla of private boats; There are no confrontations between fans. .
After the final whistle, it is a matter of returning to the Vaporetto, preventing it and staying with the color and forming a band of followers who cross a labyrinth of canals, zigzag over ancient bridges and wind through narrow streets, before exiting onto Via Garibaldi, a wide street. That was once a canal before Napoleon covered it. After a series of blockades in bars such as Strani, Alle Colonnette and Bacaro 1813, the crowd, despite everything, begins to disperse around the gigantic St. Mark’s Square. Arrive here and you can say you’ve enjoyed a true slice of Venetian life.
Our website, cntravellerme. com, aims to motivate and tell readers about the world around us, with a reliable and original policy of regional and foreign destinations, hotels, food, art, history, architecture, food shopping and much more. Travel-related tips and recommendations are complemented by in-depth stories on specific destinations, as well as original articles and photographs from Conde Nast Traveler Middle East magazine.
Contact