World Showcase at Night...Italy

Let's have a look at another World Showcase at night image and description from the Imagineering Field Guide. This time, I thought we would have a look at the Italy Pavilion. Even though the image is not the sharpest, I still think it encompasses the beauty of this often over-looked Pavilion.

Our Italy pavilion is weighted toward the architecture of Venice. It's not the most representative architectural style for the entire country, but is the most distinctive and perhaps the most recognizable as being Italian. Our departure point is the Piazza di San Marco, or St Mark's Square. The landmark structures are the Doge's Palace, constructed between the 9th and the 16th centuries-spanning Gothic and Renaissance styles - and the Campanile clock-bell tower built one-fifth the size of the original.

The two columns at the entrance to the piazza mimic those that grace the original. One holds a statue of a lion - the guardian of Venice - and the other shows St. Theodore slaying a dragon. The Arcata d'Artigiani, a stucco building with a clay-tile roof, brings together elements of the rural region of Tuscany. The Fontana di Nettuno is intended to capture the spirit of the world of the prolific Renaissance sculptor, artist, and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, but is not based upon any particular piece. [p92]