There's a lot about the Celts that I did not realize until I went on my Celtic Invasion of Brittany. It opened a secret history that most of us don't think about. In this episode, I'm gonna share how Venice is a part of that Celtic history and lots more. Subscribe at celtfather.com.
Celtfather Weekly
The Secret History of the Celts
I sent an email to the Celtic Invasion Vacations mailing list about doing a Celtic Invasion of Venice. Someone responded what does Italy have to do with the Celts. It turns out a lot.
The Celts were a group of people who shared a common tongue. They are believed to have originated around Austria between 800-450 BC. They migrated in there in every direction, fighting and conquering as they went. They were in fact one of the barbarian hordes that sacked Rome.
The Celts didn't just invade places. They also settled them. Dan Carlin's podcast Hardcore History has a brilliant 6 hour long episode called the Celtic Holocaust which describes how Caesar decimated the Celts in Europe. I highly recommend it.
What I really never thought about was the fact that the Celts were all over Europe at one point in time. There is a historical record of Celtic people BEFORE the seven Celtic nations. So Celts in Venice actually makes sense.
It was all brought home on this year's Celtic Invasion of Brittany.
One of the things I try to do on my Celtic Invasion Vacations is to provide a little history and legends into the mix. I bring in a tour guide for one day to get an overview of the region we are staying in.
This year, I brought in Visite Bretagne. They talked about the city of Vannes that we visited. It was originally founded by the Veneti, one of the Celtic tribes who settled in Northwest France. They were in fact one of the bigger tribes of the region.
We learned in the Celtic Holocaust episode that the Veneti were actually decimated by Caesar, though not before many of them migrated north to Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. This was all fascinating, but what really brought my story together was when my step-dad Tiziano shared with us a book about the Celtic Tribes that settled in Italy. They mention the Veneti as a Celtic tribe that originally settled near Venice.
At this point, I should share with you a few placenames. Venice is located in a region called The Veneto. There is a river in near Carnac and in the Veneto called the Po River. And of course Vannes, where the Veneti called home in Brittany, was located in marshy land with lots of small islands, just like a certain city that is now sinking in Italy called Venice.
Yes. It is believed that the Veneti of Veneto region in Northeast Italy migrated to Brittany and settled a similar region.
For the past couple years, Tiziano has been researching the Celtic history of the Veneto. And there's a lot. The Celts lived in that region for several generations before moving on or being assimilated. Sure, it's not as vast is in Ireland and Scotland, but it exists. And you can find numerous festivals celebrating Celtic culture of recent times and long ago.
This is one of the reasons that CIV goes anywhere. For me, my Invasions aren't about a location. Sure, most subscribers to my list want to go to Ireland or Scotland. But many just want to see the world. My trips are more about experiencing magical moments with like-minded people, than going to the obvious destinations.
The itinerary for the Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye is now on the website. It is a very loose itinerary since I'm waiting on a few more people before I book the housing. It looks like there will be room for 8 people unless there's some overwhelming demand. At which point, there might be room for 10 people.
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