"Flight of the Angel" (Il Volo dell'Angelo) is one of the traditional events of the Venetian carnival. There is a lot of unknown in the history of the show. According to one version, a young acrobat passed over the crowd along a tightrope from the boat pier on the Piazzetta to the bell tower in the middle of the sixteenth century. The show was repeated and modified many times later. Most often hanging from the rope man went down to the palace of the Doge. The show ended in tragedy in 1759. Acrobat fell to the ground. The show was banned. In one embodiment, made of wood pigeon descending on a rope (Flight of the Angel began flying pigeon). No fly was not for a long period of time later.
Flight of Angel was revived in 2001. New materials and technology has allowed the show to be safe. Usually, dressed in an angel costume person goes down on a rope over the cheering crowd from the San Marco bell tower to the square in the first festival Sunday the afternoon. As a rule, known athlete, artist, or the winner of the last year plays the role of an angel. (It must to be a brave girl to fly over the square along the rope.)
There are other flights at the Venice Carnival:
- Flight of the Eagle (“il volo” dell'Aquila) takes place a week after the Angel Flight in Piazza San Marco. Flight of Donkey (Volo dell'Asino) takes place in Mestre (a suburb of Venice located on the mainland). It is a parody of the Flight of the Angel. The Lion flight. The canvas, the Golden Lion (symbol of the city) is shown in which coming down from the bell tower of the St. Mark Cathedral. This event is considered as the symbolic of the end of the carnival.