Now, fellows, this is important information for you. Study the following photos carefully. Embed the images into your memory banks.
Now, then. When you go to Venice and see these pretty things sitting in corners, do not:
* try to sit on them
* write “Ti amo Suzie” on them [nor write anything else, for that matter]
* use them as a convenient place to relieve yourself.
Well, you can try the latter if you want, but you may not be happy with the splash back. (My advice: find a bar, order a drink, use their facilities.)
They are called pissotte (plural), or pissotta if you’re trying to work only one into the conversation.
Happy travels.
I think they’re a hoot.
Some of them are quite beautiful! I’ll be on the lookout for more, just as a public service for the blokes, of course.
Some sources say they were also a deterrent to ‘thugs’ hiding in dark corners, to way lay you at night. I prefer the pissotte version.
Love it!!
Sure, I show the artistic wonders of Venice, and you love these!!
Yes, that’s our Yvonne…always looking out for artistic wonders and sharing them with a thought to public service.
Please keep up the good work.
I’ll do my level best, Michelle.
The double one top right is a bit of a puzzle. Is the lower one for tiny people?
Sure and ’tis for the wee folks, laddie!
Oh, and some of them would almost need a step ladder, by the way. The many mysteries of our lady, Venice.
Very good, you little punster. (punstress?)
My favourite is the one shaped like a bell (-end).
We know that there are over 100 islands, connected by over 400 bridges, about 150 churches, perhaps 177 canals, and about 500 capitelli. I wonder if anyone has counted the pissotte.
I like that one too, Bert, and the double-deckers. I don’t think the pissotte have received the attention they deserve.
There’s definitely a scholarly tome, heavy with footnotes, just waiting to be written about those things. I had no idea what those things were and never suspected how successfully they’ve been keeping me both from public urination and falling into a life of crime.
Steven, the pissotte work in mysterious (and subliminal) ways!
10 days now.
PS I would be happy to collaborate on that tome!
10 days. Woo-hoo. Safe journey.
Thank you, Andrew. It’ll be so nice to walk those calle again.
Steven, I thought only women would not work out what the pissotte were for
. As to the ‘anti-bandito’ theory, it may be a case of ‘not in front of the ladies’ (i.e. let’s make up a story so as not to cause offence), or killing two birds with one stone, but, if preventing people from hiding in corners were the main objective, then the design could have been a lot simpler. Also hiding in corners only works for one direction of travel. People approaching from the other direction would naturally wonder what the other person was doing there, assuming he was not engaged in that activity which the pissotte were designed to deter. If you want to waylay somebody, you need to know that there is nobody else about, and you can’t know that if you are hiding in a corner.
Good morning, Bert. Maybe thugs weren’t all that bright in those days. It could be like a childish belief of “If I close my eyes, I can’t see them. Ergo, they can’t see me.”
Ha ha, you’ve got quite a collection here! I’ll be curious to see how many more you find.
Hi, Annie. You’ve got your beautiful shrines, I’ve got my pissotte. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder …