Thousands of people, many dressed for a traditional masked ball, crowded into Saint Mark’s Square on Sunday to witness “the flight of the angel,” the opening event of the annual Venice Carnival.
The first Sunday of the carnival, a young woman chosen as “Marie” has the honor of performing the stunt, gliding through the air on a harness attached to a cable from the 99m bell-tower of Saint Mark’s Basilica to a stage below.
As she soars overhead, the angel tosses confetti at the onlookers below.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
“This is pure energy, I feel the energy rise from my feet as if I’m floating on air,” this year’s angel Linda Pani told AFP-TV.
“It was extraordinary, I felt the wind, the sea, the ground and the fire in me,” she added, describing the experience as “perhaps the happiest three minutes of my life.”
The centuries-old Venice Carnival, rooted in Christian festivities ahead of the fasting period of Lent, attracts crowds of foreign and Italian tourists to its masked balls and theatrical performances.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
The carnival, which lasts until Feb. 25, was created in Venice in 1162, the day after a military victory.
(AFP)
數千人上週日湧入聖馬可廣場──其中許多人是一身傳統化妝舞會的行頭──來見證「飛翔的天使」，為一年一度的威尼斯狂歡節揭開序幕。
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
狂歡節的第一個星期日，獲選為「瑪麗」的年輕女子，肩負表演此絕技的榮譽──吊掛著從聖馬可大教堂九十九公尺高的鐘樓沿纜線一滑而下，抵達廣場上的舞台。
她由眾人頭頂飛過，一邊向仰望的群眾灑下五彩碎紙。
今年獲選擔任天使的琳達‧帕尼對法新社電視台說：「這純粹是種能量，我感覺到腳下升起一股能量，讓我就像飄浮在空中一樣」。
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
「這真是美妙絕倫，我感覺到自己內在有風、海、土地與火」，她補充說，這段體驗「也許是我一生中最快樂的三分鐘」。
有數百年歷史的威尼斯狂歡節，源於齋期前的基督宗教慶典活動。威尼斯狂歡節的面具化妝舞會與戲劇表演，吸引了義大利國內外眾多遊客。
將於二月二十五日落幕的威尼斯狂歡節，首次舉行是在西元一一六二年，打了一場勝仗後的次日。
（台北時報林俐凱譯）
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