Happy New (Venetian) Year

Get those prosecco glasses and let the cork fly: A Happy New Year to all of you!

What did you say: I’m 2 months late?

On the contrary! In Venice the New Year was celebrated till the end of the Republic in 1797 on the 1st of March. February was thus the last month of the year.

In order to avoid confusion, the date was accompanied by the abbreviation „M.V. More Veneto“ that means „according to the Venetian use“.

And who invented it?

The Romans did! In the Roman Empire, before the application of the Julian calendar, the month March was actually the first month of the year, a practice that was continued in Venice for a good reason (more on this reason in the next blog post) whilst other countries started to adopt the Gregorian calendar starting from the 16^th century.

The Julian calendar that was introduced, as the name indicates, by Julius Caesar is still in use nowadays …

… for example in the Orthodox Church: Did you ever wonder why for example in Russia the Christmas Day falls on the 7th of January? Well, because the 7^th of January corresponds to the 25^th of December in the Julian calendar.

And with this I wish you: Cheers and a Happy New Year!