By Felicity Jervis
Date and Venue:Monday November 26th at 4pm.

Members: Free Guests: R 20

If there is one city that any world traveler holds dear to her heart, or on her bucket list, it’s Venice.

La Serenissima, city of dreams and discoveries, the quintessential merchant city during her great 700 year old Republic, the fulcrum between our mediaeval and modern ages. She has survived for 1697 years, through countless terrible death-dealing plagues, being conquered by Napoleon, falling into the hands of the German Third Reich and falling into the waters of her rising lagoon and disappearing forever.

What lies behind her remarkable, enduring Republic, her history of world trade domination, her sensational inventions, her dazzling palazzos, her stinking canals, haunted islands and immortality is a beguiling subject which has attracted me for many years.

In my 60 minute audio visual presentation using over 300 slides, music and video clips, my aim, as an historian, is to take you on a journey to My Secret Venice that is far more than a travel jaunt. For Venice is a very complex place, with a truly fascinating history worth exploring with me.

No other European city lives more in the spirit of its glorious past than does Venice. This is a city of 117 islands that was created by citizens bound together in a spirit of co -operation, tolerance towards foreigners of all religions and a common purpose to conquer the water, unify and protect the soil and to focus on economic goals.

What they achieved, dazzled the Renaissance world and continues to hold our 21st Century in awe, as it does me still.



My Secret Venice: for the Hermanus History Society’s Year-End Meeting on Monday November 26th at 4pm in the Catholic Church Hall, followed by wine and canapes.. Members: Free. Guests: R 20. Enquiries: Robin Lee (028 312 4072 or robinlee@hermanus.co.za