Polki w Wenecji w drugiej połowie XVIII wieku. Zapiski z podróży Teofili z Radziwiłłów Morawskiej i Katarzyny z Sosnowskich Platerowej

POLISH WOMEN IN VENICE IN THE SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. TRAVEL DIARIES OF TEOFILA KONSTANCJA MORAWSKA NÉE RADZIWIŁŁ AND KATARZYNA PLATEROWA NÉE SOSNOWSKA

Venice, one of the most enchanting cities in the world, has always been a very popular destination for travellers. For Poles who travelled through Europe in the eighteenth century, Venice was an important and frequently visited city. Polish noblewomen of that era, who travelled as frequently as their male counterparts, wrote many memoirs describing their journeys. Very few of their diaries, however, have survived to this day. Memoirs describing their Venetian escapades, rarely published, are mostly buried deep in archives and libraries. Travel diaries of Teofila Konstancja Morawska, née Radziwiłł (1738-1818) and Katarzyna Platerowa, née Sosnowska (born c. 17481832), widely considered as two of the most interesting publications describing Venice of that time, are filled with thoughtful observations of life in eighteenth-century Venice. Details about the city’s landscape and architectural artefacts, the chronicles of theatrical performances, descriptions of works of art and local cuisine and customs represent a remarkable source of information about appearances, the mentality and everything that defined the life of the eighteenth-century Venetians. Their memoirs are on a par with those written by men of their time and their observant eyes make them an extraordinary source of information about life in Venice of the eighteenth century.