The Veneto has been in the spotlight all over New York for the last two days thanks to the project Venetian Villas and the reconstruction of Amusement Park in Coney Island.
The Veneto region is among the more known and most sought-after destinations in the world.
It is the unprecedented first step of most tourists, as is was announced to New York tour operators at ENIT, at the Italian Restaurant Remi during a press conference, and the following day, to city authorities, and crowd and children gathered at the famous Amusement Park in Coney Island.
The plentiful offerings of this rich region were presented at the offices of ENIT, located in Rockefeller Center. Among the riches of the region, the focus of the presentation has been on the prestigious Venetian villas (more than 104 recently opened to the public, 23 of which are attributed to the great architect Andrea Palladio), which are no longer only artistic temples, but now offer an opportunity to anyone to live in them, inhabit them for a day or an entire holiday, to rent them for an event such as a wedding.
The special presenter, together with the Director of ENIT Eugenio Magnani, and the Head of Tourism of the Veneto Region, Marino Finozzi, was the Countess Maria Carolina Valmarana, the lucky owner of a historic villa (Villa Valmarana ai Nani), with the help of some stunning images and her words, created a dreamy atmosphere of welcoming guests in these magical places, full of art of art and history. It was a short daydream trip, but a dream that can be made a reality thanks to the exceptional new network of Venetian villas.
The Republic of Venice, in a thousand years of its history, has left multiple inheritances. In the mainland the most striking is represented by the so-called civilization of Venetian villas, which is to be understood as a type of government of the territory, micro-families and communities, heritage of the arts, works of many architects, painters, sculptors.
Maria Carolina Vamarana has demonstrated what it means to recreate a villa, and in her case her whole life, in order to make it into a cultural and tourist attraction. Evident in her speech were love and passion but also a particular firmness in expressing the need to never betray the history of the home, which should never be transformed into a simple money making instrument and destroying the territory.
As part of the Regional Programme of Innovative Actions (PRAI), Villevenete.net has been created to promote and enhance the riches of Venetian Villas. "Viven Open Net. The project is part of e-EuropaRegio: the company at service of regional development." We invite you to visit the site, which will be completed in the next month.
The Veneto region thanks to its cultural heritage, its beautiful landscapes and the variety of environments and ecosystems, is able to meet - as the commissioner and the Director of ENIT mentioned- a wide range of needs and present visitors with numerous offerings: from art voyages to resorts, from spas to the sport oriented tours, from mountains to the countryside. Not to mention its extraordinary culinary tradition and excellent wine. Do not forget that in the US the consumption and sales of Italian sparkling wine Prosecco, has exceeded that of the seemingly more popular French champagne.
The following day in Coney Island, where the Amusment Park was reopening for the 2013 season, despite it being a gray and rainy day, the wind seemed to be arriving directly from Veneto. Memorial Day always marks the start of the bathing season and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also inaugurated the reopening of the Amusement Park. The event was filled with Venetian masks and Italian Prosecco. Between the figurines of the famous carousel a masked dance, the most beautiful and dreamy was performed.
Why the Venetian presence in the famous Coney Island Amusement Park?
The rebirth of the park was overseen by Zamparela, a company from Vicenza, an undisputed world leader in amusement rides. Steeplechase Plaza with its carousel horses restored accompanied a multimedia presentation of University Ca' Foscari on the origins and history of Venice, an event organized on the occasion of the 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States.
Alberto - CEO Zamperla SpA – after Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s inauguration has skillfully and passionately presented the multimedial Venice of Ca 'Foscari to all gathered including the New York Consul General Natalia Quintavalle, the Director of ENIT Eugenio Magnani, director of ITC, Celeste, President of the Borough of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz.
“There is an Italy, in this particular case Veneto” - said Marty Markowitz, “ that
saved Coney Island. " Natalia Quintavalle, the Italian Consul has emphasized the importance of Zamperla’s work, inserting it into the context of the Year of Italian Culture in the United States "for both industrial and social impact in this country."
Zamperla came to America at the age of 24. "My father has always been a lover of American organization. His dream was to open a branch here and so he sent me." And his company today builds amusement parks in the United States, as well as in Korea, Northern Ireland, England, Dubai, and the Philippines. You see the passion and love for his work in his eyes when he talks about it.” The company's CEO, creates with his words and his presentation a great sense of humility, perhaps due to a sense of Venetian enterprise and the simplicity with which he tells us: "I am just plain carny, it’s a part of the history of our family for four generations."
His company is currenntly carrying out a project in Baghdad, a construction of a new amusement park in the suburbs- and he notes: "A park brings fun, brings joy, especially in difficult situations." In his future: a continuation of a collaboration with Ca 'Foscari of which the Coney Island presentation was just a small preview. The father has started it all, he founded the company building rides for the family, his first intuition being designing bumper cars built especially for kids, and not just for adults. The son still calls himself "a carny," a carny of promulgation of the culture and history of Veneto thanks to the project with Ca’ Foscari.
The Veneto crosses New York, brings us images, people, leaves fun rides, sends
its culture through its food, its wines, and its music. It also sends its invitation to visit it. As soon as possible.
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Veneto Promozione. More information on the villas of Veneto can be found at villevenete.net and veneto.to.
