Venice, Italy

Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, and has a population of 271,251 (census estimate January 1, 2004). Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000). Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light". It is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The city stretches across 118 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers. The population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 62,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazione of Mestre and Marghera; and 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon.

High water in Venice

Venice and surroundings in false color, from TERRA satellite. The picture is oriented with North at the top

The Venetian Republic was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century.

Venice and its Lagoon* UNESCO World Heritage Site

Origins and history

While there are no historical records that deal directly with the origins of Venice, the available evidence has led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice comprised refugees from Roman cities such as Padua, Aquileia, Altino and Concordia (modern Portogruaro) who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic invasions and Huns.^[2] Some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incola lacunae (lagoon dwellers).

Beginning in 166-168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the main center in the area, the current Oderzo. The Roman defenses were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, by the Huns led by Attila. The last and most enduring inruption was that of the Lombards in 568. This left the Eastern Roman Empire a small strip of coast in current Veneto, and the main administrative and religious entities were therefore transferred to this remaining dominion. New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon.

The Byzantine domination of central and northern Italy was subsequently largely eliminated by the conquest of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751 by Aistulf. During this period, the seat of the local Byzantine governor (the "duke/doux", later "doge") was situated in Malamocco. Settlement across the islands in the lagoon probably increased in correspondence with the Lombard conquest of the Byzantine territories.

In 775-776, the bishopric seat of Olivolo (Helipolis) was created. During the reign of duke Agnello Particiaco (811-827) the ducal seat was moved from Malamocco to the highly protected Rialto (Rivoalto, "High Shore") island, the current location of Venice. The monastery of St. Zachary and the first ducal palace and basilica of St. Mark, as well as a walled defense (civitatis murus) between Olivolo and Rialto were subsequently built here.

In 828, the new city's prestige was raised by the theft of the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, which were placed in the new basilica. The patriarchal seat was also moved to Rialto. As the community continued to develop and as Byzantine power waned, it led to the growth of autonomy and eventual independence.

Piazza San Marco in Venice.

These Horses of Saint Mark are a replica of the Triumphal Quadriga captured in Constantinople in 1204 and carried to Venice as a trophy

Transportation

The Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs

Venice is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 118 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century a causeway to the mainland brought a railway station to Venice, and an automobile causeway and parking lot was added in the 20th century. Beyond these land entrances at the northern edge of the city, transportation within the city remains, as it was in centuries past, entirely on water or on foot. Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

Waterways

The classical Venetian boat is the gondola, although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies. Most Venetians now travel by motorised waterbuses (vaporetti) which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city's islands. The city also has many private boats. The only gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges. Visitors can also take the watertaxis between areas of the city.

Public transportation

Azienda Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (ACTV) is the name of the public transport system in Venice. It combines both land transportation, with buses, and canal travel, with water buses (vaporetti). In total, there are 25 routes which connect the city.

Airports

Venice is served by the newly rebuilt Marco Polo International Airport, or Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo, named in honor of its famous citizen. The airport is on the mainland and was rebuilt away from the coast; however, the water taxis or Alilaguna waterbuses to Venice are only a seven-minute walk from the terminals.

Some airlines market Treviso Airport in Treviso, 20km from Venice, as a Venice gateway. Some simply advertise flights to "Venice" without naming the actual airport except in the small print.^[10]

Car

Venice is practically a no car zone, being built on the water. Cars can reach the car/bus terminal via the bridge (Ponte della Liberta) (SR11). It comes in from the West from Mestre. There are two parking lots which serve the city: Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma. Cars can be parked there 24hrs/7days a week for around 25 euros per day. From Tronchetto parking lot leaves a ferry to Lido. Tronchetto is served by vaporetti and buses of the public transportation. Currently, a people mover linking Tronchetto to Piazzale Roma is under construction. Expected time of opening is unknown.

View of Venice from St Mark's Campanile

Landmarks

Grand Canal A small canal in Venice (Rio della Verona)

A winter sunset across the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

Piazza San Marco and its famous pigeons

Sestieri

The sestieri are the primary traditional divisions of Venice. The city is divided into the six districts of Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro (including the Giudecca), Santa Croce, San Marco (including San Giorgio Maggiore), and Castello (including San Pietro di Castello and Sant'Elena). At the front of the Gondolas that work in the city there is a large piece of metal intended as a likeness of the Doge's hat. On this sit six notches pointing forwards and one pointing backwards. Each of these represent one of the Sestieri (the one which points backwards represents the Giudecca).

Museums

Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
Casa Goldoni a Palazzo Centano
Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro
Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna
Gallerie dell'Accademia
Galleria di Palazzo Cini
Museo Correr
Museo d'Arte Erotica
Museo d'Arte Orientale
Museo del Ghetto
Museo del Merletto di Burano
Museo del Settecento veneziano (Ca' Rezzonico)
Museo del Vetro di Murano
Museo dell'Istituto Ellenico
Museo della Fondazione Querini Stampalia
Museo della Scuola Dalmata dei SS. Giorgio e Trifone
Museo di Storia Naturale
Museo di Torcello
Museo Diocesano di Arte sacra
Museo Ebraico
Museo Marciano
Museo parrocchiale San Pietro Martire
Museo Storico Navale
Palazzo Fortuny
Palazzo Ducale
Palazzo Grassi
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Pinacoteca e Museo di S. Lazzaro degli Armeni
Pinacoteca Manfrediniana
Scuola Grande dei Carmini
Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista
Scuola Grande di San Marco
Scuola Grande di San Rocco

Piazzas and campi

Palaces and palazzi

Venice, by Bolognino Zaltieri, 1565

Churches

St Mark's Basilica Facade of St Mark's Basilica

Two gondolas in a narrow Venetian canal

Florians coffee bar in St. Mark's Square, a famous landmark in Venice

Other buildings

Bridges

Surroundings

Venetian Villas

Main article: Palladian Villas of the Veneto

The villas of the Veneto, rural residences for nobles during the Republic, are one of the most interesting aspects of Venetian countryside. They are surrounded by elegant gardens, suitable for fashionable parties of high society. Most of these villas were designed by Palladio, and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the architects, water around the villas was a very important architectural element because it added more brilliance to the façade.

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