A fixed item on the map of peregrinations in old Poland was the Apennine Peninsula and Rome, which had forever been a tourist destination. It was mainly visited by pilgrims travelling to holy places and subsequent, festively celebrated jubilee years gave an opportunity to travel to the banks of the River Tiber and visit not only Rome but also the many "delicacies of the Italian land." It must be remembered, however, that Italy was also frequented by other travellers visiting the South of Europe for different purposes: diplomats, numerous students visiting Italian universities and the clergy destined to the Roman Curia as well as monks delegated to participate in the assemblies of their orders. Other Italian cities also attracted tourists from the Commonwealth: they visited Padua, Bologna and Naples. Another important place on the itinerary of Baroque travellers was Venice.
The traditional route from Krakow or Lviv to the Eternal City usually led through Venice. "Serenissima" invariably aroused vivid interest in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Poles admired its unusual location and enthusiastically commented on the freedom and independence of the Republic, Venetian clothes and the local system of governance. In the years from 1682 to 1688, Jan Stanisław and Aleksander Jan Jabłoński, bearers of the Prus III coat of arms, like many other young noblemen and magnates, went on an educational journey in West European countries. During their grand tour, the brothers visited the German states, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and England. In late June 1687, Jan Stanisław and Aleksander Jabłonowski finally arrived in Venice. Their summer stay there somewhat differed from the itinerary of other travellers who tried to visit Venice during the famous carnival.
The Radoliński brothers arrived in Venice in January 1663: "where, for the whole week, we watched the carnival that many people from the surrounding area come to see. They have a strange voluptates for dressing up, even respectable persons; ladies have a great freedom during those days, they enjoy unconstrained conversations and mostly dress like men. We saw beautiful comedies in a number of theatres, with delightful music. They also present very enjoyable wooden comedies here [...]. Most carnival celebrations with various kinds of music take place a la piazza a S. Marco." In early December 1677, Venice was also visited by Teodor Billewicz, who accompanied the Deputy Lithuanian Chancellor Duke Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł and Katarzyna nee Sobieska. Teodor BIllewicz purposefully prolonged his stay in Venice until the balls and masquerades "as it was a good time to watch them."
The sons of Hetman Jabłoński, the same as other foreign visitors to the Venetian islands, noticed the unusual location of the city. Aleksander Jan wrote in his diary: "Civitas aliis extraordinaria, nam in mari fundata, loco platearum canales sunt." The caretaker of the young boys noted that Venice "fixed its foundations on Neptune's salty back." Similar accounts and descriptions of the exceptional urban plan can be found in other 17th century writings. A few years earlier, Teodor Billewicz saw Venice "swimming like a duck on sea waters," and Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł described Venice in his travel journal as: "A city entirely located on water."
The journals of the Jabłonowski brother's tour contain descriptions of the most famous buildings in Venice. The young Poles were well prepared to visit the city and they were equipped with proper literature and guidebooks. Most importantly, their diaries contain a description of the city's symbol - St Mark's Basilica. The Jabłonowski brothers' caretaker noted: "The day after, we travelled in a gondola along the Grand Canal to St Mark's church, which is the city's first and finest ornament.
There, we heard the Holy Mass and later admired the lavish basilica with its great marbles, alabasters, porphyries and other stones, and in particular the unbelievably elaborate mosaics presenting various stories and holy images ad vivum. When we left the church, we looked at the church's famous exterior in admirationem rapit. The five doors, or rather gates, elaborately cast from bronze, are exceptionally admirable and there are four bronze horses cast in Macedonia at the times of Alexander the Great and later moved to Constantinople."
The sons of Hetman Jabłonowski spent the few free days in Venice visiting the numerous attractions in the city: the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale), the mint and many Venetian churches. The Jabłonowski brothers visited, among others, Santa Maria delle Salute, a new Baroque church built as a thanksgiving offering after the plague epidemic. The Jabłonowski brothers also visited many other churches by the Venetian lagoon: belonging to Jesuits, Dominicans, Theatines, Benedictine nuns and Discalced Carmelites. They also took note of the famous Venetian glass produced on Murano, a small island on the lagoon, near Venice. The Hetman's sons must have had good memories from their stay in Venice; many years later, the Rus Voivode Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski, in his instructions addressed to his nephew, Busko Starosta (senior) Józef Aleksander Jabłonowski, advised him to return to the Commonwealth via Venice, this way repeating the itinerary of his youthful peregrination.
Translation: Lingua Lab
