# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Of all the cities I've visited in Europe, Venice is my favourite, the world-famous canals and historic buildings make it an amazing destination. Here are some interesting facts I learnt during my visit.

I love to wander the streets on my own, even if it does mean getting lost countless times. But I also love learning about the history and culture of a city, so on my recent trip I decided to take a guided walking tour.

Being the budget traveller that I am, I decided to take one of the free tours. I used a company called La Bussola - highly recommended. I took the 10am tour which lasted over 3 hours, starting at Campo Santo Stefano (not far from the Pont de l'academie).

Top tip: If taking a tour, remember to allow plenty of time to get to the starting point. It can take longer than you think as there are only 4 bridges over the grand canal.

The tour was led by a local who was full of knowledge about the city, here are 16 interesting facts about Venice I learnt during the tour (all fact checked online):

Venice is one of those places that you could spend days wondering the streets and enjoying the atmosphere. But if you're short on time, it's still possible to discover the best of Venice in 2 days.

Venice is built on millions of petrified logs that have been driven in to the ground. These logs were mainly from Alder trees (known for its water resistance). These were bought to Venice by boat from other countries such as Slovenia and Croatia.

The 118 islands that make up Venice are connected by around 400 bridges and over 170 canals. The city is located in the Venetian Lagoon which is a wold heritage site.

Venetians are unhappy about unsustainable tourism

The ever-increasing number of tourists visiting Venice is a sore-point amongst the locals. Venice now receives over 20 million tourists per year, a figure which continues to increase. The guide explained to us that many residents believe this is unsustainable and more than the city can cope with.

Conversely, the local population of Venice has rapidly decreased in recent years as many leave due to increasing cost of living and overcrowding of the city. There are now around 55,000 full time residents, compared to 120,000 just 30 years ago. Some experts have predicted that unless something is done about population decline, there will be no full-time residents by 2030.

Analysis has shown that the city is subsiding by about 1-2mm per year. This is due to both natural causes such as the Adriatic plates upon which Venice sits being driven into the sea, and man-made causes such as the continued extraction of water from the city over the past century.

Venetians paraded a casket through the city

When the number of local residents living full time in Venice dropped below 60,000 in 2008, residents held a fake funeral to raise awareness of the decline. This saw them transport a casket through the city on 3 gondola, not much changed following this protest and numbers continue to decline.
Only got one day in Venice - view this itinerary from EverywhereForward
As a visitor, I felt that Venice was expensive, but the guide explained that an apartment in Venice can cost upwards of €1million (£890k). These high prices are driven by the substantial tourism - many houses are bought up and turned into hotels and restaurants.

There are only 3 or 4 new gondoliers each year

You need a professional licence to become a gondolier. After centuries where the profession was handed down from father to son, there is now a gondolier course. However only about 3 or 4 new licences are granted each year. The course involves 400 hours of training to learn the skills needed and an apprenticeship with a gondolier. Candidates must also study and take an exam on Venetian history and landmarks.

Venetians hate cruise ships, and with good reason

The guide made a good argument for why cruise ships should not visit Venice, they bring large amounts of pollution and displace around 90,000 tonnes of water per ship which damages the lagoon. Not to mention bringing an additional 30,000 passengers per day in peak season, many of whom do not spend much money in the city.

Flooding is an increasing concern for locals

Venice is prone to flooding when high tides occur in the Adriatic Sea usually during December and January. Combine this with the rising sea levels due to climate change and you'll realise why Venetians are increasingly concerned. There is a siren system to warn about upcoming flooding so they can prepare but the local told me that nowadays most of them have a flood warning app too. I noticed lots of wooden walkways around the city, particularly St Marks Square, ready for flood waters.

Gondoliers are among the most well-paid workers in Venice

A gondolier can earn a salary of around €100,000. However, there are now only around 400 gondoliers in Venice, this is compared to around 10,000 in the 16th century.

Venice is home to one of the narrowest streets in the world

Another fact about Venice is that the narrowest street in the city, Calle Varisco, is just 53cm wide.

A relatively unknown fact about Venice , Skateboards, Roller Skates or Bikes are not allowed. Although given the number of bridges, I can't imagine this would help get around that much quicker anyway. Big fines are in place if you're caught using these transport methods.

I was told that 2010 saw the arrival of the first officially recognised female gondolier. Although this was no the game changer that it was hoped to be. Today, Giorgia Boscolo, the daughter of a gondolier, remains the only female in the profession that has been almost exclusively male for a thousand years.

Another interesting fact about gondolas in Venice; the outside must be painted black according to an old city law. Before this law was passed, gondoliers would decorate their gondolas to attract customers. The guide told me that all the designs would have been an eye sore, and also meant that the richest noblemen with the most to spend on decorating their gondolas would have an advantage. I noticed that many now decorate the inside with fancy materials to distinguish themselves.

St Marks Companile is one of the newest additions to Venice

The current bell tower, one of the most recognised landmarks, was only built in 1912 after the original collapsed in 1902. The collapse was a significant event for Venice at the time, likely the result of a combination of unsuitable foundation, a history of damage from fires and earthquakes as well as the regular flooding of the square in which it stands.

I hope you found these facts as interesting as I did, Venice is an amazing city that you need to visit if you haven't yet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
16 Interesting Facts About Venice I Learnt From A Local

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Of all the cities I've visited in Europe, Venice is my favourite, the world-famous canals and historic buildings make it an amazing destination. Here are some interesting facts I learnt during my visit. I love to wander the streets on my own, even if it does mean getting lost countless times.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stock Photo - View of St. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy in the 16th century. After Cesare Vecelio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download this stock image: View of St. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy in the 16th century. After Cesare Vecelio. - EFTHRW from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

# data[].attributes.body
The Grand Canal

# data[].attributes.body
League of Cambray (1507-08), the conquest of Cyprus by the Turks (1570-73), the Plague (1575-76)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The 16th Century was one of the most difficult periods in the one-thousand-year-old history of the Venetian Republic: the war against the League of Cambray (1507-08) , the conquest of Cyprus by the Turks (1570-73) and the Plague (1575-76).

Nevertheless, the Republic recovered quickly and was in fact the only Italian city to remain free of the general crisis affecting the other Italian States.Venice is cosmopolitan city, which attracted and hosted subjects from its domain - the "Stato da Terra" (mainland) and the " Stato da mar" - but also foreigners. There were flourishing Greek , Armenian , Albanian, Jewish communities. The nation "todesca" - Germans plus Bohemians, Poles, Hungarians and people from the Trentino area - had built their own fondaco in the 13th Century in Rialto that was promptly rebuilt after a fire of 1505. Turkish, Albanian and Bosnian merchants had had a place of shelter since 1574 at the " Osteria dell'Angelo" in San Matteo di Rialto (the Turks were only granted the right to have a warehouse, the Fondaco dei Turchi, in 1621, in the former Palazzo Pesaro on the Canal Grande at San Stae).

With trade and sea traffic once again prosperous in the 16th Century , Venice also "recreated" the urban-architecture of the city, where each social class found their own space to live and work.

Culture was an important part of life in Venice.
Printers were very active, leaving to posterity many literary , poetical and musical works.
Science, too, was important (medicine, mathematics, plumbing, etc.) at Padua University and the " Scuola di Rialto".
Venice also patronised painters of the likes of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Tiziano , Lorenzo Lotto, Paolo Veronese ,

All citizens - from the noble families to the lowest ranks - took part in representations of the power of the state (theatre and religious ceremonies). Major political and religious public holidays were renewed each year - in 1578 the magical Night of the Redeemer , on the eve of the third Sunday in July, was added to celebrate the city's liberation from the plague - to the more modest, but no less sincerely enjoyed, popular events. In addition to the "freschi" (processions at sunset) along the city's canals, there were the boat parties organised by the Compagnia della Calza , with sumptuous banquets , tournaments, naumachiae, balls and, of course, the regate: boat races organised during visits by important dignitaries.
Even the " campi" (squares) became natural theatres for "bull hunts" - reserved for the corporation of "beccheri" (butchers) - or even bears.The factions of Castellani (inhabitants of the Sestieri of Castello, San Marco and Dorsoduro) and Nicolotti (sestieri of San Polo, Santa Croce and Cannaregio) fought each other in the "guerre con i bastoni" (wars with sticks) and "battagliole dei pugni" (fist fights) which often degenerated into bloody brawls with dead and wounded.

Then there were the spectacular Forze d'Ercole (Herculean trials) : human pyramids, dangerous acrobatic exercises accompanied by music, not only in Piazzetta San Marco and in the [campi], but also on the Canal Grande, on rafts sitting on boats (known as "peate"). Not to mention human pyramids balancing on just two gondola oars .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The 16th Century was one of the most difficult periods in the one-thousand-year-old history of the Venetian Republic: the war against the League of Cambray (1507-08) , the conquest of Cyprus by the Turks (1570-73) and the Plague (1575-76).

# data[].attributes.body
Venice is known for its bridges. There are 417 bridges in Venice, and 72 of those are private.

Houses in Venice are numbered according to districts, not streets, making it difficult to find addresses, even for postmen. The rule of thumb is to look for a monument, shop, or landmark in close proximity.

# data[].attributes.body
Venice played a major role in reopening the Mediterranean economy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Venetian Republic

Venice played a major role in reopening the Mediterranean economy to West European commerce and developing links with Northern Europe. It created an institutional basis for commercial capitalism, made major progress in shipping technology, and helped transfer Asian and Egyptian technology in cane sugar production and processing, silk textiles, glassblowing and jewellery to the West.

Venice was the most successful of the North Italian city states in creating and maintaining a republic dominated by a merchant capitalist elite. Thanks to its geographic position and willingness to defend itself, it was able to guarantee its autonomy and freedom from exactions by feudal landlords and monarchs.

It created political and legal institutions which guaranteed property rights and the enforceability of contracts. It was a pioneer in developing foreign exchange and credit markets, banking and accountancy. It created what was effectively a government bond market, starting with compulsory loans on which interest was paid regularly. Its fiscal system was efficient and favourable to merchant profits and the accumulation of capital. The revenues came from excise levies and property taxes based on cadastral surveys.

It was a tolerant and fairly secular state where foreign merchants (Armenians, Greeks and Jews) could operate as freely as locals. Although it was theoretically part of the catholic world, it enjoyed privileged relations with the Byzantine empire. It buttressed its ecclesiastical independence by acquiring the relics of St. Mark from Alexandria in 828. It was effectively independent of both Pope and Patriarch.

Venetian diplomacy was highly professional, pragmatic, opportunistic and dedicated to the pursuit of its commercial interests. It adjusted amazingly well to political changes. In the ninth and tenth centuries its main commerce was to provision Constantinople with grain and wine from Italy, wood and slaves from Dalmatia and salt from its lagoons, taking silk and spices in return. Towards the end of the eleventh century, Byzantium was under pressure from the Seljuk Turks who seized Anatolia, and Frankish incursions into its Southern Italian territories. Venice secured commercial privileges (exemption from excise taxes) from Byzantium in 1082 in return for help in bolstering its naval defences. In 1204, by contrast, it played a major role in persuading the leaders of the fourth crusade to target Constantinople instead of Islam. As a result Venice acquired bases in Dalmatia and an empire in the Aegean. It took the southern half of the Peloponnese, Corfu and Crete. It occupied nearly half of Constantinople and gained access to trade in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. In 1261, the Byzantine Emperor recaptured Constantinople and gave trade preferences and a territorial base to Venice's rival, Genoa. However, Venice retained its Greek colonies and Venetian shipping was soon able to re-enter the Black Sea where trade was booming due to the Mongol reopening of the silk route through Central Asia.

West European crusaders successfully attacked the Syrian and Palestinian coast and established small christian states in Antioch, Acre and Jerusalem between 1099 and 1291. They gave commercial privileges to Pisan and Genoan traders who had helped finance their conquest. The Venetians had not helped, but nevertheless managed to establish a trading base in Tyre.

The Turkish Mameluke regime recaptured Syria and Palestine in 1291 and ruled Egypt until 1517. Here too, Venice managed to establish a privileged trading relationship, buying a large part of the Asian spices which the Karimi merchants of Alexandria brought to Egypt from Asia via the Red Sea. In return the Venetians sold metals, armour, woollens and slaves. The slaves came from the Balkans and Russia: males were destined for service in the Mameluke army, females for their harems.

When the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, Venice quickly negotiated the maintenance of its trading rights, but in 1479, the Ottomans closed their access to the Black Sea. In 1517, they took over Egypt and terminated most of the Venetian trade in spices.

Venice had important connections with Northern Europe. Trade with Flanders was carried out mainly at the Champagne fairs where Italian merchants bought woollen goods and sold silk, spices, alum, sugar and lacquer8. When the sea route was opened between the Western Mediterranean and the Atlantic, trade with Flanders was carried out directly by ship.

A second route linked Venice with Augsburg, Nuremberg, Prague and Vienna via the Brenner Pass. German merchants brought metals and metal products (including silver). Venetians traded these metals up the Po Valley and in the Mediterranean. In 1318 the Fondaco dei Tedeschi was created in Venice to provide for the trading needs and lodging of German merchants.

In building up its trade, Venice created a political empire. In 1171, the city had about 66 000 inhabitants, and was one of the three biggest in Western Europe until the sixteenth century when its population peaked around 170 000. Venice experienced three demographic catastrophes. In 1347-48, nearly 40 per cent of the population died when a galley brought the plague from the Black Sea port of Caffa. Two other attacks occurred in 1575-77 and 1630; each killing about a third of the population of the city.

The Empire overseas (dominio da mar) included about half a million people. Between 1388 and 1499, Venice acquired territory on the Italian mainland (terraferma) which included Udine, Friuli, Vicenza, Padua, Verona, Bergamo, Rovigo and Cremona. In 1557 the population of these territories was about 1.5 million.

The Venetian state played a leading role in commercial activity, being the major shipbuilder, leasing state-owned galleys to private enterprise, arranging the organisation and timing of convoys. It developed types of ship suitable for Venetian commerce and the conditions of trade in the Mediterranean. This state activity reduced costs for private traders by making commerce more secure from enemy attack. It also permitted smaller traders, with limited capital, to participate in international trade.

The biggest enterprise in Venice was the Arsenal, a public shipyard created in 1104. It was operative for centuries, and employed thousands of workers.

There were major changes in ship construction and navigation techniques between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. Roman ships had been constructed hull first, held together by careful watertight cabinetwork of mortice and tenon; the second stage was the insertion of ribs and braces. In the eleventh century there was a switch which made a major reduction in costs. The keel and ribs were made first and a hull of nailed planks was added, using fibre and pitch to make the ships watertight. A later development was the stern-post rudder which replaced trailing oars as a more effective means for steering ships. The power of the rudders was strengthened by use of cranks and pulleys. There were improvements in sails, notably the introduction of a triangular lateen rig set at an angle to the mast instead of a rectangular sail square to the mast. There was a long run increase in the size of ships.

Soon after 1270, the compass came into use in the Mediterranean. This, together with improved charts, made it possible to sail all year round. Previously ships trading with Egypt had not ventured out between October and April. With the compass the same ship could make two return trips a year from Venice to Alexandria instead of one.

There were two main kinds of Venetian ship. General purpose cargo ships ("cogs") were built in private shipyards. Their length was about three times their breadth, and they relied entirely on sails. Galleys for passengers, high value cargo and naval duties were built in the Arsenal. These were longer, had a wide beam and a crew of 200 most of whom were oarsmen. Galleys were speedier, more manoeuvrable for entering and leaving harbour, and for occasions when there was no wind. The general Venetian practice was to have 25 benches on each side of the galley, each bench having three oarsmen. The benches were set at an angle and the oars were of different lengths so that the rowers would not interfere with each other. On such a ship there would be 150 oarsmen and about 30 crossbowmen for defence and attack, who would also take turns at rowing. Galleys were owned by the state and rented out for each venture to the highest bidder in public auctions. Galleys also acted as public carriers, as those who leased the ships had to accept goods from other merchants if they had spare capacity.

In 1291, the Genoese defeated a Moroccan fleet controlling the straits of Gibraltar, and opened the way for European commerce from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Thereafter Venetian galleys used this route to trade with London and Bruges.

Although international trade, banking, shipbuilding and associated trades in timber, carpentry, rope and sailmaking etc. were the biggest sectors of the Venetian economy, there were also sizeable manufacturing activities producing goods for local use and export. One of the earliest was the glass industry which had already started in the tenth century. Venice was a pioneer in glassblowing technology in Europe and made glasses, goblets, pitchers, dishes, bottles, vases, mirrors, jewellery, candelabra and decorative products of very high quality. From the thirteenth century Venetians produced delicate, carefully blown sand-glasses as a time-keeping device for mariners. From the fourteenth century onwards they started making spectacles - an Italian invention which greatly increased the productivity of artisans and scholars. Angelo Barovier, the most famous glassblower of the fifteenth century, perfected the process for making crystal. By that time, polychrome, engraved, filigree, enamelled and gold- leafed glassware was available in a profuse variety of designs. In 1291 all glassblowing was shifted to the island of Murano by decree of the Maggior Consilio. This enabled Venice to keep tighter control of its trade and technological secrets.

Equally precocious were the skills and products of Venetian goldsmiths, mosaicists, woodcarvers and decorative artists who were in heavy demand in turning the inside of churches, civic monuments and private palaces into works of art. Venetian style was influenced by the work of previous generations of mosaicists and iconographers in Ravenna and the thirteenth century inflow of objects looted from Constantinople.

The trade with Asia in raw silk and silk products eventually led to import substitution in Europe. Silk production had already spread from China to India and Syria, and came to Italy in the twelfth century - initially to Lucca, then to Venice, Florence, Genoa, Milan and Bologna, and later to Lyon in France. Within the Arab world, silk production came to Spain from Syria. Venetian silk production is documented as early as the thirteenth century. The Venetian government regulated production to guarantee quality, keep out competitors and reduce the risk of industrial espionage. The silk, satin and velvet products of Venice were of the highest quality, and designs were a distinctive mix of indigenous creativity and oriental influence. Multicoloured velvet brocades, often executed with gold and silver thread, were produced as items of ceremonial clothing for Venice's governing elite, for furniture, wall hangings, table coverings, decorative items for gondolas etc. These products made a substantial contribution to Venetian exports.

Another important field was book production. In the ninth and tenth centuries, scribes and illuminators were mainly active on sacred books in the scriptoria of monasteries. Later there were civic records, histories, translations of Aristotle and other Greek texts destined for the libraries of San Marco, ducal, civic and private collectors. This gave employment to professional scribes, bookbinders, specialists in ornamented calligraphy and illustration. Less than 15 years after Gutenberg's invention of printing, a German immigrant brought the technique to Venice in 1469. It led to an enormous improvement in the productivity of the industry, with print runs up to 4 500 copies. A very much larger proportion of output was destined for export than had been the case for manuscript books. Venice quickly became the principal Italian typographical centre, and one of the biggest in Europe. By the middle of the sixteenth century, some 20 000 editions had been published. Venetian publishing helped invigorate the cultural and intellectual life of Europe by providing music scores, maps, books on medical matters and translations of the Greek classics. The Aldine Press (set up in 1494) edited and published original Greek texts, and Venice became the major publisher of books for the Greek-speaking world.

Sugar was another major product. Venice created plantation agriculture and processing facilities with slave labour in Crete and Cyprus, using techniques borrowed from Syria. Venetian practice was copied later by the Portuguese in Madeira and in Brazil.

The Venetian role in the spice trade was greatly reduced at the beginning of the sixteenth century because of restrictions on trade with Syria and Egypt imposed by the new Ottoman authorities, and competition from direct Portuguese shipments from Asia. Lane suggests that Venetian spice imports fell from around 1 600 tons a year towards the end of the fifteenth century to less than 500 tons by the first decade of the sixteenth century. Lane thought that the absolute size of the pepper component of these shipments had recovered by the 1560s, but Venice's leading role in this trade had obviously evaporated.

Venetian shipping also faced increased competition on Western routes to England and Flanders, and its sugar industry in Crete and Cyprus declined because of competition from Portuguese production in Madeira and later in Brazil.

There were also changes in shipbuilding technology in the Atlantic economies which quickly rendered the oared Venetian galley obsolete. The two main changes were in the rigging of round ships and the development of firearms during the fifteenth century. Lane (1966, pp. 15-16) described these changes as follows: " The transformation of the one-masted cog into a full-rigged, three-masted ship possessed of spritsail, topsail and mizzen lateen occurred about the middle of the century - the sailing ships of 1485 differed less in appearance from the sailing ships of 1785 than they did from those of 1425 - equally important in robbing the merchant galley of the special security which had alone justified its existence was the increase in the use of guns in naval warfare."

As a result there was a sharp decline in the main product of the Arsenal and a rise in the share of cogs in the Venetian merchant fleet. There was increased purchase by Venetian merchants of ships from abroad, as problems of adapting to technological change were compounded by much poorer Venetian access to cheap timber than shipbuilders in the Atlantic economies.

From 1500 onwards, a significant proportion of Venetian capital was reoriented to agrarian reclamation and development and creation of Palladian villas and country estates in the terraferma.

Over the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Venice did not expand much in population or per capita income, but it remained one of the richest parts of Italy and Europe until overtaken by the Dutch in the seventeenth century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The World Economy website helps the public learn about the world's economy. Aimed at teachers, researchers and students of economics and economic history. Discover facts from Maddison's book via an interactive map and samples from: The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective which covers the development of the world economy over the last 2000 years.

# data[].attributes.body
early 16th century, Venice enters a long and gradual period of decline.

Read more: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=higa#ixzz67KmLAfLZ

# data[].attributes.body
Venice is the most busiest at summer time due to it being so vibrant. More during the beginning of June and the end of July. The beginning of March is when there is costumes, the celebration of art and parties.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

The biggest attraction in the gorgeous city of Venice is the architecture - which is enhanced by the ancient canals that surround it. As well as Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica, the city is home to the Gothic masterpiece Doge's Palace. This pink and white marble buildings has to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated. Not only is it a breathtaking example of Italian architecture, it is also the centre of Venice Carnival celebrations every year.

Just a short gondola ride from Doge's Palace is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is one of the world's most illustrious modern art collections. If you're looking for more traditional works from the Renaissance period, spend some time at the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses several classics from this era.

There are many places in Venice which characterise the city's illustrious history and association with the arts and architecture. Take the Bridge of Sighs, for example, which is a white limestone masterpiece that the interrogation rooms of Doge's Palace to the prison.

But the most beautiful bridge in all of Venice has to be the Rialto Bridge. This ornate structure hangs over the Grand Canal with masterful confidence. Connecting San Polo to the sestieri of San Marco, the bridge has been rebuilt many times over the years.

If you're looking for entertainment in Venice, you truly are spoilt for choice. Spend a few hours perusing the artworks at Museo Correr, or explore an exciting mix of Renaissance and modern art at Punta della Dogana.

Perhaps you'd prefer to take in an evening of ballet or live music at Teatro La Fenice, which is a truly magnificent 1000-seat theatre. If you're interested in the history of Venice, a trip to either the Lace Museum or Fortuny Museum will take you on a journey of discovery. And no trip to Venice should pass by without a trip to Ca' d'Oro - a Venetian-Gothic palace that also happens to be home to the Franchetti collection of Renaissance art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual travel to Venice, Italy: attractions & things to do - ItalyGuides.it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

# data[].attributes.body
mostly rainy during April and May, summer months are the driest and are usually 32 degrees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

The biggest attraction in the gorgeous city of Venice is the architecture - which is enhanced by the ancient canals that surround it. As well as Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica, the city is home to the Gothic masterpiece Doge's Palace. This pink and white marble buildings has to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated. Not only is it a breathtaking example of Italian architecture, it is also the centre of Venice Carnival celebrations every year.

Just a short gondola ride from Doge's Palace is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is one of the world's most illustrious modern art collections. If you're looking for more traditional works from the Renaissance period, spend some time at the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses several classics from this era.

There are many places in Venice which characterise the city's illustrious history and association with the arts and architecture. Take the Bridge of Sighs, for example, which is a white limestone masterpiece that the interrogation rooms of Doge's Palace to the prison.

But the most beautiful bridge in all of Venice has to be the Rialto Bridge. This ornate structure hangs over the Grand Canal with masterful confidence. Connecting San Polo to the sestieri of San Marco, the bridge has been rebuilt many times over the years.

If you're looking for entertainment in Venice, you truly are spoilt for choice. Spend a few hours perusing the artworks at Museo Correr, or explore an exciting mix of Renaissance and modern art at Punta della Dogana.

Perhaps you'd prefer to take in an evening of ballet or live music at Teatro La Fenice, which is a truly magnificent 1000-seat theatre. If you're interested in the history of Venice, a trip to either the Lace Museum or Fortuny Museum will take you on a journey of discovery. And no trip to Venice should pass by without a trip to Ca' d'Oro - a Venetian-Gothic palace that also happens to be home to the Franchetti collection of Renaissance art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual travel to Venice, Italy: attractions & things to do - ItalyGuides.it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

# data[].attributes.body
built on 100 small islands in Adriatic sea. Full of waterways and canals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

The biggest attraction in the gorgeous city of Venice is the architecture - which is enhanced by the ancient canals that surround it. As well as Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica, the city is home to the Gothic masterpiece Doge's Palace. This pink and white marble buildings has to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated. Not only is it a breathtaking example of Italian architecture, it is also the centre of Venice Carnival celebrations every year.

Just a short gondola ride from Doge's Palace is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is one of the world's most illustrious modern art collections. If you're looking for more traditional works from the Renaissance period, spend some time at the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses several classics from this era.

There are many places in Venice which characterise the city's illustrious history and association with the arts and architecture. Take the Bridge of Sighs, for example, which is a white limestone masterpiece that the interrogation rooms of Doge's Palace to the prison.

But the most beautiful bridge in all of Venice has to be the Rialto Bridge. This ornate structure hangs over the Grand Canal with masterful confidence. Connecting San Polo to the sestieri of San Marco, the bridge has been rebuilt many times over the years.

If you're looking for entertainment in Venice, you truly are spoilt for choice. Spend a few hours perusing the artworks at Museo Correr, or explore an exciting mix of Renaissance and modern art at Punta della Dogana.

Perhaps you'd prefer to take in an evening of ballet or live music at Teatro La Fenice, which is a truly magnificent 1000-seat theatre. If you're interested in the history of Venice, a trip to either the Lace Museum or Fortuny Museum will take you on a journey of discovery. And no trip to Venice should pass by without a trip to Ca' d'Oro - a Venetian-Gothic palace that also happens to be home to the Franchetti collection of Renaissance art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual travel to Venice, Italy: attractions & things to do - ItalyGuides.it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

# data[].attributes.body
started after the italian turmoil of the 16th century

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Venetian decline: 16th - 18th century

After the Italian turmoil of the early 16th century, Venice enters a long and gradual period of decline. This is in no way diminishes the artistic brilliance of the city. The Venetian school of the 16th century includes Giorgione, Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; two centuries later Venice is home to Tiepolo, Canaletto and Guardi. But politically the great days are over.

This is evident in the fact that the republic, once so pugnacious, maintains a cautious neutrality from the mid-16th century onwards. Venice now fights only to defend its Mediterranean possessions from the Turks. In the long run even this proves a hopeless battle.

At first the omens seem good on the Mediterranean front. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1570 prompts a vigorous Christian response. A joint Spanish and Venetian fleet defeats the Turks decisively at Lepanto in 1571. But it proves a hollow victory. Only two years later, in 1573, Venice cedes the island to Turkey. A century later, in 1669, the Turks finally evict the Venetians from another great prize, Crete.

Of the island staging posts to the east, so carefully accumulated by Venice, only the Ionian group (including Corfu, Cephalonia and Zante) escapes Turkish encroachment.

Losing its political will, Venice finds the new role which it has enjoyed ever since - as a place of pleasure and delight, Europe's most sparkling tourist attraction. The city has the world's first public opera house, which opens in 1637. It has the pageantry seen in Canaletto, the titillating tradition of masked women who feature in paintings by Longhi, the social comedy of the plays of Goldoni.

This city of canals is an irresistible part of the fashionable Grand Tour. And it remains, under its doddery oligarchy of doge and senate, an independent republic - until the brusque intrusion of Napoleon in 1797.

Austrian and Italian Venice: 1797-1866

Napoleon, campaigning against Austria in Italy in 1797, deposes the last doge. By the treaty of Campo Formio, later in the same year, Venice and the Veneto are handed over to Austria.

Venice remains under Austrian rule until 1866, when Austria is defeated in the Seven Weeks' War. Venice and the Veneto (often collectively known as Venetia) are ceded to the newly independent kingdom of Italy. The ancient city becomes, as it remains today, the capital of the province of Venezia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Venetian decline: 16th - 18th century After the Italian turmoil of the early 16th century, Venice enters a long and gradual period of decline. This is in no way diminishes the artistic brilliance of the city. The Venetian school of the 16th century includes Giorgione, Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; two centuries later Venice is home to Tiepolo, Canaletto and Guardi.

# data[].attributes.body
Venice is located in the Veneto region of Italy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.

The biggest attraction in the gorgeous city of Venice is the architecture - which is enhanced by the ancient canals that surround it. As well as Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica, the city is home to the Gothic masterpiece Doge's Palace. This pink and white marble buildings has to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated. Not only is it a breathtaking example of Italian architecture, it is also the centre of Venice Carnival celebrations every year.

Just a short gondola ride from Doge's Palace is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is one of the world's most illustrious modern art collections. If you're looking for more traditional works from the Renaissance period, spend some time at the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses several classics from this era.

There are many places in Venice which characterise the city's illustrious history and association with the arts and architecture. Take the Bridge of Sighs, for example, which is a white limestone masterpiece that the interrogation rooms of Doge's Palace to the prison.

But the most beautiful bridge in all of Venice has to be the Rialto Bridge. This ornate structure hangs over the Grand Canal with masterful confidence. Connecting San Polo to the sestieri of San Marco, the bridge has been rebuilt many times over the years.

If you're looking for entertainment in Venice, you truly are spoilt for choice. Spend a few hours perusing the artworks at Museo Correr, or explore an exciting mix of Renaissance and modern art at Punta della Dogana.

Perhaps you'd prefer to take in an evening of ballet or live music at Teatro La Fenice, which is a truly magnificent 1000-seat theatre. If you're interested in the history of Venice, a trip to either the Lace Museum or Fortuny Museum will take you on a journey of discovery. And no trip to Venice should pass by without a trip to Ca' d'Oro - a Venetian-Gothic palace that also happens to be home to the Franchetti collection of Renaissance art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual travel to Venice, Italy: attractions & things to do - ItalyGuides.it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Few cities can claim such a priceless art and history heritage as Venice. This unique city with its magical, spectacular scenery is not just beautiful; it is a real miracle of creative genius: a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape.