VENICE: Tens of thousands of revellers, many dressed in masks and period costume, packed into St Mark's Square for the "flight of the angel" Sunday that marks the traditional opening of the Carnival of Venice.
On the twelfth chime of midday from St Mark's Campanile, fearless 19-year-old Irene Rizzi leapt from the famous bell tower, attached to a wire 80 metres above the huge crowd that had gathered for one of the world's most celebrated carnivals.
The carnival, which lasts until February 9, is thought to have started in 1162 after a military victory. Abandoned for decades, it was resurrected in 1980.
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