Venice (, VEN-iss; Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja]
(listen); Venetian: Venesia, Venexia [veˈnɛsja])
is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital
of the Veneto region.
It is situated across a group of 118 small
islands that are separated by canals and linked
by over 400 bridges.
The islands are located in the shallow Venetian
Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between
the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers
(more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile).
Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty
of their settings, their architecture, and
artwork.
The lagoon and a part of the city are listed
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.In 2018, 260,897
people resided in Comune di Venezia, of whom
around 55,000 live in the historical city
of Venice (Centro storico).
Together with Padua and Treviso, the city
is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan
Area (PATREVE), with a total population of
2.6 million.
PATREVE is only a statistical metropolitan
area.The name is derived from the ancient
Veneti people who inhabited the region by
the 10th century BC.
The city was historically the capital of the
Republic of Venice.
Venice has been known as the "La Dominante",
"Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City
of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges",
"The Floating City", and "City of Canals."
The 697-1797 Republic of Venice was a major
financial and 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) and art
in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th
century.
The city-state of Venice is considered to
have been the first real international financial
center which gradually emerged from the 9th
century to its peak in the 14th century.
This made Venice a wealthy city throughout
most of its history.It is also known for its
several important artistic movements, especially
the Renaissance period.
After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress
of Vienna, the Republic was annexed by the
Austrian Empire, until it became part of the
Kingdom of Italy in 1866, following a referendum
held as a result of the Third Italian War
of Independence.
Venice has played an important role in the
history of symphonic and operatic music, and
it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.
Although the city is facing some major challenges
(including financial difficulties, pollution,
an excessive number of tourists and problems
caused by cruise ships sailing close to the
buildings), Venice remains a very popular
tourist destination and an iconic Italian
city, and has been ranked the most beautiful
city in the world.
== Etymology ==
The name of the city, deriving from Latin
forms Venetia and Venetiae, is most likely
taken from "Venetia et Histria", the Roman
name of Regio X of Roman Italy, but applied
to the coastal part of the region that remained
under Roman Empire outside of Gothic, Lombard,
and Frankish control.
The name Venetia, however, derives from the
Roman name for the people known as the Veneti,
and called by the Greeks Enetoi (Ἐνετοί).
The meaning of the word is uncertain, although
there are other Indo-European tribes with
similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic
Veneti and the Slavic Vistula Veneti.
Linguists suggest that the name is based on
an Indo-European root *wen ("love"), so that
*wenetoi would mean "beloved", "lovable",
or "friendly".
A connection with the Latin word venetus,
meaning the color 'sea-blue', is also possible.
Supposed connections of Venetia with the Latin
verb venire (to come), such as Marin Sanudo's
veni etiam ("Yet, I have come!"), the supposed
cry of the first refugees to the Venetian
lagoon from the mainland, or even with venia
("forgiveness") are fanciful.
The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia [viˈnɛːdʒa];
(Venetian: Venèxia [veˈnɛzja]; Latin: Venetiae;
Slovene: Benetke).
== History ==
=== Origins ===
Although no surviving historical records deal
directly with the founding of Venice, tradition
and the available evidence have led several
historians to agree that the original population
of Venice consisted of refugees from Roman
cities near Venice such as Padua, Aquileia,
Treviso, Altino, and Concordia (modern Portogruaro)
and from the undefended countryside, who were
fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun
invasions.
This is further supported by the documentation
on the so-called 'apostolic families', the
twelve founding families of Venice who elected
the first doge, who in most cases trace their
lineage back to Roman families.
Some late Roman sources also reveal the existence
of fishermen on the islands in the original
marshy lagoons.
They were referred to as incolae lacunae ("lagoon
dwellers").
The traditional founding is identified with
the dedication of the first church, that of
San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto (Rivoalto,
"High Shore") — said to have taken place
at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421 (the
Feast of the Annunciation).Beginning as early
as AD 166–168, the Quadi and Marcomanni
destroyed the main center in the area, the
current Oderzo.
The Roman defences 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 immigration into
the north of the Italian peninsula, that of
the Lombards in 568, left the Eastern Roman
Empire a small strip of coast in the current
Veneto, including Venice.
The Roman/Byzantine territory was organized
as the Exarchate of Ravenna, administered
from that ancient port and overseen by a viceroy
(the Exarch) appointed by the Emperor in Constantinople,
but Ravenna and Venice were connected only
by sea routes; and with the Venetians' isolated
position came increasing autonomy.
New ports were built, including those at Malamocco
and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon.
The tribuni maiores, the earliest central
standing governing committee of the islands
in the Lagoon, dated from c. 568.The traditional
first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto
(Anafestus Paulicius), was elected in 697,
as written in the oldest chronicle by John,
deacon of Venice in ca. 1008.
Some modern historians claim Paolo Lucio Anafesto
was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor,
Marcello Tegalliano, was Paul's magister militum
(General: literally, "Master of Soldiers").
In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate
rose in a rebellion over the iconoclastic
controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory
II.
The Exarch, held responsible for the acts
of his master Byzantine Emperor Leo III, was
murdered and many officials put to flight
in the chaos.
At about this time, the people of the lagoon
elected their own independent leader for the
first time, although the relationship of this
to the uprisings is not clear.
Ursus was the first of 117 "doges" (doge is
the Venetian dialect development of the Latin
dux ("leader"); the corresponding word in
English is duke, in standard Italian duce.)
Whatever his original views, Ursus supported
Emperor Leo III's successful military expedition
to recover Ravenna, sending both men and ships.
In recognition of this, Venice was "granted
numerous privileges and concessions" and Ursus,
who had personally taken the field, was confirmed
by Leo as dux and given the added title of
hypatus (Greek for "Consul".)In 751 the Lombard
King Aistulf conquered most of the Exarchate
of Ravenna, leaving Venice a lonely and increasingly
autonomous Byzantine outpost.
During this period, the seat of the local
Byzantine governor (the "duke/dux", later
"doge"), was situated in Malamocco.
Settlement on the islands in the lagoon probably
increased with the Lombard conquest of other
Byzantine territories, as refugees sought
asylum there.
In 775/6 the episcopal seat of Olivolo (San
Pietro di Castello; Helipolis) was created.
During the reign of duke Agnello Particiaco
(811–827) the ducal seat moved from Malamocco
to the highly protected Rialto, 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.
Charlemagne sought to subdue the city to his
own rule.
He ordered the Pope to expel the Venetians
from the Pentapolis along the Adriatic coast,
and Charlemagne's own son Pepin of Italy,
king of the Lombards under the authority of
his father, embarked on a siege of Venice
itself.
This, however, proved a costly failure.
The siege lasted six months, with Pepin's
army ravaged by the diseases of the local
swamps and eventually forced to withdraw in
810.
A few months later, Pepin himself died, apparently
as a result of a disease contracted there.
In the aftermath, an agreement between Charlemagne
and the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus in 814
recognized Venice as Byzantine territory and
granted the city trading rights along the
Adriatic coast.
In 828 the new city's prestige increased with
the acquisition of the claimed relics of St
Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, which
were placed in the new basilica.
(Winged lions, visible throughout Venice,
are the heraldic crests of St. Mark.)
The patriarchal seat also moved to Rialto.
As the community continued to develop and
as Byzantine power waned, its autonomy grew,
leading to eventual independence.
=== Expansion ===
From the 9th to the 12th century, Venice developed
into a city state (an Italian thalassocracy
or Repubblica Marinara: the other three of
these were Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi).
Its strategic position at the head of the
Adriatic made Venetian naval and commercial
power almost invulnerable.
With the elimination of pirates along the
Dalmatian coast, the city became a flourishing
trade center between Western Europe and the
rest of the world (especially the Byzantine
Empire and Asia) with a naval power protecting
sea routes from piracy.The Republic of Venice
seized a number of places on the eastern shores
of the Adriatic before 1200, mostly for commercial
reasons, because pirates based there were
a menace to trade.
The Doge already carried the titles of Duke
of Dalmatia and Duke of Istria.
Later mainland possessions, which extended
across Lake Garda as far west as the Adda
River, were known as the "Terraferma", and
were acquired partly as a buffer against belligerent
neighbours, partly to guarantee Alpine trade
routes, and partly to ensure the supply of
mainland wheat, on which the city depended.
In building its maritime commercial empire,
the Republic dominated the trade in salt,
acquired control of most of the islands in
the Aegean, including Crete, and Cyprus in
the Mediterranean, and became a major power-broker
in the Near East.
By the standards of the time, Venice's stewardship
of its mainland territories was relatively
enlightened and the citizens of such towns
as Bergamo, Brescia and Verona rallied to
the defence of Venetian sovereignty when it
was threatened by invaders.
Venice remained closely associated with Constantinople,
being twice granted trading privileges in
the Eastern Roman Empire, through the so-called
Golden Bulls or "chrysobulls" in return for
aiding the Eastern Empire to resist Norman
and Turkish incursions.
In the first chrysobull, Venice acknowledged
its homage to the Empire; but not in the second,
reflecting the decline of Byzantium and the
rise of Venice's power.Venice became an imperial
power following the Fourth Crusade, which,
having veered off course, culminated in 1204
by capturing and sacking Constantinople and
establishing the Latin Empire.
As a result of this conquest, considerable
Byzantine plunder was brought back to Venice.
This plunder included the gilt bronze horses
from the Hippodrome of Constantinople, which
were originally placed above the entrance
to the cathedral of Venice, St Mark's Basilica,
although the originals have been replaced
with replicas and are now stored within the
basilica.
After the fall of Constantinople, the former
Roman Empire was partitioned among the Latin
crusaders and the Venetians.
Venice subsequently carved out a sphere of
influence in the Mediterranean known as the
Duchy of the Archipelago, and captured Crete.
The seizure of Constantinople proved as decisive
a factor in ending the Byzantine Empire as
the loss of the Anatolian themes after Manzikert.
Although the Byzantines recovered control
of the ravaged city a half-century later,
the Byzantine Empire was terminally weakened,
and existed as a ghost of its old self until
Sultan Mehmet The Conqueror took the city
in 1453.
Situated on the Adriatic Sea, Venice always
traded extensively with the Byzantine Empire
and the Muslim world.
By the late 13th century, Venice was the most
prosperous city in all of Europe.
At the peak of its power and wealth, it had
36,000 sailors operating 3,300 ships, dominating
Mediterranean commerce.
Venice's leading families vied with each other
to build the grandest palaces and support
the work of the greatest and most talented
artists.
The city was governed by the Great Council,
which was made up of members of the noble
families of Venice.
The Great Council appointed all public officials
and elected a Senate of 200 to 300 individuals.
Since this group was too large for efficient
administration, a Council of Ten (also called
the Ducal Council or the Signoria), controlled
much of the administration of the city.
One member of the great council was elected
"Doge", or duke, the chief executive, who
usually held the title until his death; although
several Doges were forced by pressure from
their oligarchical peers to resign and retire
into monastic seclusion when they were felt
to have been discredited by political failure.
The Venetian government structure was similar
in some ways to the republican system of ancient
Rome, with an elected chief executive (the
Doge), a senate-like assembly of nobles, and
a mass of citizens with limited political
power, who originally had the power to grant
or withhold their approval of each newly elected
Doge.
Church and various private properties were
tied to military service, although there was
no knight tenure within the city itself.
The Cavalieri di San Marco was the only order
of chivalry ever instituted in Venice, and
no citizen could accept or join a foreign
order without the government's consent.
Venice remained a republic throughout its
independent period, and politics and the military
were kept separate, except when on occasion
the Doge personally headed the military.
War was regarded as a continuation of commerce
by other means (hence, the city's early production
of large numbers of mercenaries for service
elsewhere, and later its reliance on foreign
mercenaries when the ruling class was preoccupied
with commerce).
Although the people of Venice generally remained
orthodox Roman Catholics, the state of Venice
was notable for its freedom from religious
fanaticism and executed nobody for religious
heresy during the Counter-Reformation.
This apparent lack of zeal contributed to
Venice's frequent conflicts with the Papacy.
In this context, the writings of the Anglican
divine William Bedell are particularly illuminating.
Venice was threatened with the interdict on
a number of occasions and twice suffered its
imposition.
The second, most noted, occasion was in 1606,
by order of Pope Paul V.
Venetian ambassadors sent home still-extant
secret reports of the politics and rumours
of European courts, providing fascinating
information to modern historians.
The newly invented German printing press spread
rapidly throughout Europe in the 15th century,
and Venice was quick to adopt it.
By 1482, Venice was the printing capital of
the world, and the leading printer was Aldus
Manutius, who invented paperback books that
could be carried in a saddlebag.
His Aldine Editions included translations
of nearly all the known Greek manuscripts
of the era.
=== Decline ===
Venice's long decline started in the 15th
century, when it first made an unsuccessful
attempt to hold Thessalonica against the Ottomans
(1423–1430).
It also sent ships to help defend Constantinople
against the besieging Turks (1453).
After Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet
II, he declared the first of a series of Ottoman-Venetian
wars that cost Venice much of its eastern
Mediterranean possessions.
Next, Christopher Columbus discovered the
New World in 1492.
Then Vasco da Gama of Portugal found a sea
route to India by rounding the Cape of Good
Hope during his first voyage of 1497–99,
destroying Venice's land route monopoly.
France, England and the Dutch Republic followed.
Venice's oared galleys were at a disadvantage
when it came to traversing the great oceans,
and therefore Venice was left behind in the
race for colonies.
The Black Death devastated Venice in 1348
and once again between 1575 and 1577.
In three years, the plague killed some 50,000
people.
In 1630, the Italian plague of 1629–31 killed
a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens.
Venice began to lose its position as a center
of international trade during the later part
of the Renaissance as Portugal became Europe's
principal intermediary in the trade with the
East, striking at the very foundation of Venice's
great wealth; while France and Spain fought
for hegemony over Italy in the Italian Wars,
marginalising its political influence.
However, the Venetian empire was a major exporter
of agricultural products, and until the mid-18th
century, a significant manufacturing center.
=== Modern age ===
During the 18th century, Venice became perhaps
the most elegant and refined city in Europe,
greatly influencing art, architecture and
literature.
But the Republic lost its independence when
Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Venice on 12
May 1797 during the War of the First Coalition.
Napoleon was seen as something of a liberator
by the city's Jewish population, although
it can be argued they had lived with fewer
restrictions in Venice.
He removed the gates of the Ghetto and ended
the restrictions on when and where Jews could
live and travel in the city.
Venice became Austrian territory when Napoleon
signed the Treaty of Campo Formio on 12 October
1797.
The Austrians took control of the city on
18 January 1798.
But Venice was taken from Austria by the Treaty
of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's
Kingdom of Italy; however it was returned
to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in
1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held
Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.
In 1848 and 1849, a revolt briefly re-established
the Venetian Republic under Daniele Manin.
In 1866, after the Third Italian War of Independence,
Venice, along with the rest of the Veneto,
became part of the newly created Kingdom of
Italy.
During the Second World War, the historic
city was largely free from attack, the only
aggressive effort of note being Operation
Bowler, a successful Royal Air Force precision
strike on the German naval operations in the
city in March 1945.
The targets were destroyed with virtually
no architectural damage inflicted on the city
itself.
However the industrial areas in Mestre and
Marghera and the railway lines to Padua, Trieste
and Trento were repeatedly bombed.
On 29 April 1945, a force of British and New
Zealand troops under Lieutenant General Freyberg
of the British Eighth Army liberated Venice,
which had been a hotbed of anti-Mussolini
Italian partisan activity.
=== Subsidence ===
Subsidence, the gradual lowering of the surface
of Venice, has led to the seasonal Acqua alta
when much of the city's surface is occasionally
covered at high tide.
==== Foundations ====
The buildings of Venice are constructed on
closely spaced wooden piles.
Most of these piles are still intact after
centuries of submersion.
The foundations rest on plates of Istrian
limestone placed on top of the piles, and
buildings of brick or stone sit above these
footings.
The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand
and mud until they reach a much harder layer
of compressed clay.
Submerged by water, in oxygen-poor conditions,
wood does not decay as rapidly as on the surface.
Most of these piles were made from trunks
of alder trees, a wood noted for its water
resistance.
The alder came from the westernmost part of
today's Slovenia (resulting in the barren
land of the Kras region), in two regions of
Croatia, Lika and Gorski kotar (resulting
in the barren slopes of Velebit) and south
of Montenegro.
==== History ====
The city is often threatened by flood tides
pushing in from the Adriatic between autumn
and early spring.
Six hundred years ago, Venetians protected
themselves from land-based attacks by diverting
all the major rivers flowing into the lagoon
and thus preventing sediment from filling
the area around the city.
This created an ever-deeper lagoon environment.
In 1604, to defray the cost of flood relief,
Venice introduced what could be considered
the first example of a 'stamp tax'.
When the revenue fell short of expectations
in 1608, Venice introduced paper with the
superscription 'AQ' and imprinted instructions,
which was to be used for 'letters to officials'.
At first, this was to be a temporary tax,
but it remained in effect until the fall of
the Republic in 1797.
Shortly after the introduction of the tax,
Spain produced similar paper for general taxation
purposes, and the practice spread to other
countries.
During the 20th century, when many artesian
wells were sunk into the periphery of the
lagoon to draw water for local industry, Venice
began to subside.
It was realized that extraction of water from
the aquifer was the cause.
The sinking has slowed markedly since artesian
wells were banned in the 1960s.
However, the city is still threatened by more
frequent low-level floods (called Acqua alta,
"high water") that creep to a height of several
centimetres over its quays, regularly following
certain tides.
In many old houses, the former staircases
used to unload goods are now flooded, rendering
the former ground floor uninhabitable.
Studies indicate that the city continues sinking
at a relatively slow rate of 1–2 mm per
annum; therefore, the state of alert has not
been revoked.
In May 2003, Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi inaugurated the MOSE project (Modulo
Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), an experimental
model for evaluating the performance of hollow
floatable gates; the idea is to fix a series
of 78 hollow pontoons to the sea bed across
the three entrances to the lagoon.
When tides are predicted to rise above 110
centimetres, the pontoons will be filled with
air, causing them to float and block the incoming
water from the Adriatic Sea.
This engineering work is due to be completed
by 2018.The project is not guaranteed to be
successful and the cost has been very high,
according to a spokesman for the FAI (similar
to a National Trust).
"Mose is a pharaonic project that should have
cost €800m [£675m] but will cost at least
€7bn [£6bn].
If the barriers are closed at only 90cm of
high water, most of St Mark’s will be flooded
anyway; but if closed at very high levels
only, then people will wonder at the logic
of spending such sums on something that didn’t
solve the problem.
And pressure will come from the cruise ships
to keep the gates open."
Approximately €2 billion of the cost has
been lost to corruption.
== Geography ==
=== 
Sestieri ===
The whole pensolon (municipality) is divided
into 6 boroughs.
One of these (the historic city) is divided
into six areas called sestieri: Cannaregio
(including San Michele), San Polo, Dorsoduro
(including Giudecca and Sacca Fisola), Santa
Croce, San Marco (including San Giorgio Maggiore)
and Castello (including San Pietro di Castello
and Sant'Elena).
Each sestiere was administered by a procurator
and his staff.
Now, each sestiere is a statistical and historical
area without any degree of autonomy.
The six fingers or phalanges of the ferro
on the bow of a gondola represent the six
sestieri.
The sestieri are divided into parishes – initially
70 in 1033, but reduced under Napoleon and
now numbering just 38.
These parishes predate the sestieri, which
were created in about 1170.
Each parish exhibited unique characteristics
but also belonged to an integrated network.
The community chose its own patron saint,
staged its own festivals, congregated around
its own market center, constructed its own
bell towers and developed its own customs.Other
islands of the Venetian Lagoon do not form
part of any of the sestieri, having historically
enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy.
Each sestiere has its own house numbering
system.
Each house has a unique number in the district,
from one to several thousand, generally numbered
from one corner of the area to another, but
not usually in a readily understandable manner.
=== Climate ===
According to the Köppen climate classification,
Venice has a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa),
with cool winters and very warm summers.
The 24-hour average in January is 3.3 °C
(37.9 °F), and for July this figure is 23.0
°C (73.4 °F).
Precipitation is spread relatively evenly
throughout the year, and averages 748 millimetres
(29.4 in).
== Government ==
The legislative body of the municipality is
the City Council (Consiglio Comunale), which
is composed of 45 councillors elected every
five years with a proportional system, contextually
to the mayoral elections.
The executive body is the City Committee (Giunta
Comunale), composed of 12 assessors nominated
and presided over by a directly elected Mayor.
Venice was governed by center-left parties
from the 1990s until the 2010s, when the mayor
started to be elected directly.
Its region Veneto has long been a conservative
stronghold, with the coalition between the
regionalist Lega Nord and the center-right
Forza Italia winning absolute majorities of
the electorate in many elections at communal,
national, and regional levels.
After a corruption scandal that forced the
center-left mayor Giorgio Orsoni to resign,
Venice voted for the first time in June 2015
for a conservative directly elected mayor:
the center-right businessman Luigi Brugnaro
won the election in the second round of voting
with the 53% of the votes against the leftist
magistrate and member of the Italian Senate
Felice Casson, who led in the first round
with 38% of the votes.
The municipality of Venice is subdivided into
six administrative Boroughs (Municipalità).
Each Borough is governed by a Council (Consiglio)
and a President, elected contextually to the
city Mayor.
The urban organization is governed by the
Italian Constitution (art.
114).
The Boroughs have the power to advise the
Mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large
spectrum of topics (environment, construction,
public health, local markets) and exercise
the functions delegated to them by the City
Council; in addition, they are supplied with
autonomous funding to finance local activities.
The Boroughs are:
Lagoon area:
Venezia (historic city)-Murano–Burano (also
known as Venezia insulare); population: 69,136;
Lido–Pellestrina (also known as Venezia
litorale); population: 21,664.Mainland (terraferma),
annexed with a Royal Decree, in 1926, to the
municipality of Venezia:
Favaro Veneto; population: 23,615;
Mestre-Carpenedo (also known as Mestre centro);
population: 88,952;
Chirignago-Zelarino; population: 38;179;
Marghera; population: 28;466.After the 2015
elections, five of the six boroughs are governed
by the Democratic Party and its allies, and
one by the center-right mayoral majority.
== Economy ==
Venice's economy has changed throughout history.
Although there is little specific information
about the earliest years, it is likely that
an important source of the city's prosperity
was the trade in slaves, captured in central
Europe and sold to North Africa and the Levant.
Venice's location at the head of the Adriatic,
and directly south of the terminus of the
Brenner Pass over the Alps, would have given
it a distinct advantage as a middleman in
this important trade.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Venice
was a major center for commerce and trade,
as it controlled a vast sea-empire, and became
an extremely wealthy European city, a leader
in political and economic affairs and a centre
for trade and commerce.
From the 11th century until the 15th century,
pilgrimages to the Holy Land were offered
in Venice.
Other ports such as Genoa, Pisa, Marseille,
Ancona and Dubrovnik were hardly able to make
any competition to the well organized transportation
of pilgrims from Venice.
This all changed by the 17th century, when
Venice's trade empire was taken over by other
countries such as Portugal, and its naval
importance was reduced.
In the 18th century, then, it became a major
agricultural and industrial exporter.
The 18th century's biggest industrial complex
was the Venice Arsenal, and the Italian Army
still uses it today (even though some space
has been used for major theatrical and cultural
productions, and spaces for art).
Since World War II many Venetians have moved
to Mestre and Marghera seeking employment
as well as affordable housing.Today, Venice's
economy is mainly based on tourism, shipbuilding
(mainly done in the neighboring cities of
Mestre and Porto Marghera), services, trade
and industrial exports.
Murano glass production in Murano and lace
production in Burano are also highly important
to the economy.The city is facing financial
challenges.
In late 2016, it had a major deficit in its
budget and debts in excess of €400 million.
"In effect, the place is bankrupt", according
to a report by The Guardian.
Many locals are leaving the historic center
due to rapidly increasing rental costs.
The declining native population affects the
character of the city as an October 2016 National
Geographic article pointed out in its subtitle:
"Residents are abandoning the city, which
is in danger of becoming an overpriced theme
park".
The city is also facing some major challenges
including erosion, pollution, subsidence,
an excessive number of tourists in peak periods
and problems caused by oversized cruise ships
sailing close to the banks of the historical
city.In June 2017, Italy was required to bail
out two banks in Venice to prevent bankruptcies
of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto
Banca.
Both companies will be wound down and their
assets with value will be taken over by another
Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo which received
€5.2 billion as compensation.
The Italian government will be responsible
for losses from any uncollectible loans from
the now-closed banks.
The cost may be as high as €5.2 billion
but the guarantees to cover bad loans total
€12 billion.
=== Tourism ===
Venice is an important tourist destination
for its celebrated art and architecture.
The city gets up to 60,000 tourists per day
(2017 estimate).
Estimates as to the annual number of tourists
vary from 22 million to 30 million.
This 'overtourism' creates overcrowding and
environmental problems in its canal ecosystem.
By 2017, UNESCO was considering the addition
of Venice to its "In-Danger" list which, includes
historical ruins in war-torn countries.
To reduce the number of visitors that are
causing irreversible changes in Venice, the
agency supports limiting the number of cruise
ships as well as creating a full strategy
for a more sustainable tourism.
Tourism has been a major sector of Venetian
industry since the 18th century, when it was
a major center for the Grand Tour, with its
beautiful cityscape, uniqueness, and rich
musical and artistic cultural heritage.
In the 19th century, it became a fashionable
centre for the "rich and famous", often staying
or dining at luxury establishments such as
the Danieli Hotel and the Caffè Florian.
It continued being a fashionable city in vogue
right into the early 20th century.
In the 1980s, the Carnival of Venice was revived
and the city has become a major centre of
international conferences and festivals, such
as the prestigious Venice Biennale and the
Venice Film Festival, which attract visitors
from all over the world for their theatrical,
cultural, cinematic, artistic, and musical
productions.Today, there are numerous attractions
in Venice, such as St Mark's Basilica, the
Doge's Palace, the Grand Canal, and the Piazza
San Marco.
The Lido di Venezia is also a popular international
luxury destination, attracting thousands of
actors, critics, celebrities, and mainly people
in the cinematic industry.
The city also relies heavily on the cruise
business.
The Cruise Venice Committee has estimated
that cruise ship passengers spend more than
150 million euros (US$193 million) annually
in the city according to a 2015 report.
Other reports, however, point out that such
day-trippers spend relatively little in the
few hours of their visits to the city.Venice
is regarded by some as a tourist trap, and
by others as a "living museum".
Unlike most other places in Western Europe,
and the world, Venice has become widely known
for its element of elegant decay.
The competition for foreigners to buy homes
in Venice has made prices rise so high that
numerous inhabitants are forced to move to
more affordable areas of Veneto and Italy,
the most notable being Mestre.
==== Minimising the effects of tourism ====
The need to balance the jobs produced by cruise
tourism with the protection of the city's
historic environment and fragile canals has
seen the Italian Transport Ministry attempt
to introduce a ban on large cruise ships visiting
the city.
A 2013 ban would have allowed only cruise
ships smaller than 40,000-gross tons to enter
the Giudecca Canal and St Mark's basin.
In January, a regional court scrapped the
ban, but some global cruise lines indicated
that they would continue to respect it until
a long-term solution for the protection of
Venice is found.For example, P&O Cruises removed
Venice from its summer schedule, Holland America
moved one of its ships from this area to Alaska
and Cunard is reducing (in 2017 and further
in 2018) the number of visits by its ships.
As a result, the Venice Port Authority estimated
an 11.4 per cent drop in cruise ships arriving
in 2017 versus 2016, leading to a similar
reduction in income for Venice.
The city also considered a ban on wheeled
suitcases, but settled on banning hard wheels
for cargo from May 2015.In addition to accelerating
erosion of the ancient city's foundations
and creating some pollution in the lagoon,
cruise ships dropping an excessive number
of day trippers can make St. Marks Square
and other popular attractions too crowded
to walk through during the peak season.
Government officials see little value to the
economy from the "eat and flee" tourists who
stay for less than a day, which is typical
of those from cruise ships.Having failed in
its 2013 bid to ban oversized cruise ships
from the Giudecca canal, the city switched
to a new strategy in mid-2017, banning the
creation of any additional hotels; currently,
there are over 24,000 hotel rooms.
(The ban does not affect short-term rentals
in the historic center which is causing an
increase in rent for the native residents
of Venice.)
The city had already banned any additional
fast food "take-away" outlets to retain the
historic character of the city; this was another
reason for freezing the number of hotel rooms.
Less than half the millions of annual visitors
stay overnight, however.
Some locals were aggressively lobbying for
new methods that would reduce the number of
cruise ship passengers; their estimate indicated
that there are up to 30,000 such sightseers
per day at peak periods, while others concentrate
their effort on promoting a more responsible
way of visiting the city.
An unofficial referendum to ban large cruise
ships was held in June 2017.
More than 18,000 people voted at 60 polling
booths set up by activists and 17,874 chose
to favor the ban on ships from the lagoon.
The population of Venice at the time was about
50,000.
The organizers of the referendum backed a
plan to build a new cruise ship terminal at
one of the three entrances to the Venetian
Lagoon.
Passengers would be transferred to smaller
boats to take them to the historic area.
In 2014, the United Nations warned the city
that it may be placed on UNESCO's list of
World Heritage In Danger sites unless cruise
ships are banned from the canals near the
historic centre.In November 2017, an official
Comitatone released a specific plan to keep
the largest cruise ships away from the Piazza
San Marco and the entrance to the Grand Canal.
Ships over 55,000 tons will be required to
follow a specified path through another canal
to a new passenger port to be built in Marghera,
an industrial area of the mainland.
According to the officials, it will take four
years in total to work on the project.
However, a lobby group, 'No Grandi Navi' (No
big Ships), argued that the effects of pollution
caused by the ships can not be diminished.In
the last week of 2018, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro
announced that the "overnight" tax on visitors
(charged to those staying in hotels) would
be extended.
Every visitor to the historic centre, including
day-trippers, would be required to pay the
tax.
The extra revenue would be used for cleaning
and maintaining security, to reduce the financial
burden on residents of Venice and to "allow
Venetians to live with more decorum".
The fee per person had not yet been set, but
the mayor was considering an amount somewhere
between €2.50 and €10 per person, with
exemptions for a few types of travelers, including
students.
Since the area gets roughly 30 million visitors
per year, the total revenue will be of great
value.
=== Foreign words of Venetian origin ===
Some words with a Venetian etymology include
arsenal, ciao, ghetto, gondola, imbroglio,
lagoon, lazaret, lido, Montenegro, and regatta.
The name "Venezuela" is a Spanish diminutive
of Venice (Veneziola).
Many additional places around the world are
named after Venice, e.g., Venice, Los Angeles,
home of Venice Beach; Venice, Alberta in Canada;
Venice, Florida, a city in Sarasota County;
Venice, New York.
== Transportation ==
=== 
In the historic centre ===
Venice is built on an archipelago of 118 islands
formed by 177 canals in a shallow lagoon,
connected by 409 bridges.
In the old centre, the canals serve the function
of roads, and almost every form of transport
is on water or on foot.
In the 19th century, a causeway to the mainland
brought the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station
to Venice, and the Ponte della Libertà road
causeway and parking facilities (in Tronchetto
island and in piazzale Roma) were built during
the 20th century.
Beyond the road and rail 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.
Venice is unique in Europe, in having remained
a sizable functioning city in the 21st century
entirely without motorcars or trucks.
The classical Venetian boat is the gondola,
(plural: gondole) although it is now mostly
used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals,
or other ceremonies, or as 'traghetti' (sing.:
traghetto) to cross the Canale Grande in the
absence of a nearby bridge.
The traghetti are operated by two oarsmen;
for some years there were seven such boats
but by 2017, only three remained.There are
approximately 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice
in their distinctive regalia and a similar
number of the boats, down from 10,000 that
travelled the canals two centuries ago.
Many gondolas are lushly appointed with crushed
velvet seats and Persian rugs.
Less well-known is the smaller sandolo.
At the front of each gondola that works in
the city, there is a large piece of metal
called the fèro (iron).
Its shape has evolved through the centuries,
as documented in many well-known paintings.
Its form, topped by a likeness of the Doge's
hat, became gradually standardized, and was
then fixed by local law.
It consists of six bars pointing forward representing
the Sestieri of the city, and one that points
backwards representing the Giudecca.
==== Waterways ====
Venice is a city of small islands, enhanced
during the Middle Ages by the dredging of
soils to raise the marshy ground above the
tides.
The resulting canals encouraged the flourishing
of a nautical culture which proved central
to the economy of the city.
Today those canals still provide the means
for transport of goods and people within the
city.
The maze of canals threaded through the city
requires the use of more than 400 bridges
to permit the flow of foot traffic.
In 2011, the city opened Ponte della Costituzione,
the fourth bridge across the Grand Canal,
connecting the Piazzale Roma bus terminal
area with the Stazione Ferroviaria (train
station), the others being the original Ponte
di Rialto, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and the
Ponte degli Scalzi.
=== Public transport ===
Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano
(ACTV) is a public company responsible for
public transportation in Venice.
==== Lagoon area ====
The main public transportation means are motorised
waterbuses (vaporetti) which ply regular routes
along the Grand Canal and between the city's
islands.
The only gondole still in common use by Venetians
are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries
crossing the Grand Canal at certain points
without bridges.
Other gondole target tourists on an hourly
basis.The Venice People Mover (managed by
ASM) is a cable-operated public transit system
connecting Tronchetto island with Piazzale
Roma.
Water taxis are also active.
==== Lido and Pellestrina islands ====
Lido and Pellestrina are two islands forming
a barrier between the southern Venetian Lagoon
and the Adriatic Sea.
In those islands, road traffic is allowed.
There are bus services on islands and waterbus
services linking islands with other islands
(Venice, Murano, Burano) and with the peninsula
of Cavallino-Treporti.
==== Mainland ====
The mainland of Venice is composed of 5 boroughs:
Mestre-Carpenedo, Marghera, Chirignago-Zelarino
and Favaro Veneto.
Mestre is the center and the most populated
urban area of the mainland of Venice.
There are several bus routes and two Translohr
tramway lines.
Several bus routes and one of the above tramway
lines link the mainland with Piazzale Roma,
the main bus station in Venice, via Ponte
della Libertà, a road bridge connecting the
mainland with the group of islands that comprise
the historic center of Venice.
The average amount of time people spend commuting
with public transit in Venice, for example
to and from work, on a weekday is 52 min.
12.2% of public transit riders, ride for more
than 2 hours every day.
The average amount of time people wait at
a stop or station for public transit is 10
min, while 17.6% of riders wait for over 20
minutes on average every day.
The average distance people usually ride in
a single trip with public transit is 7 km,
while 12% travel for over 12 km in a single
direction.
=== Trains ===
Venice has regional and national trains, including
trains to Florence (1h53), Rome (3h33), Naples
(4h50), Milan (2h13) and Turin (3h10).
In addition there are international day trains
to Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich and Vienna, plus
overnight sleeper services to Paris and Dijon
(Thello), Munich and Vienna (ÖBB).
The St Lucia station is a few steps away from
a vaporetti stop in the historic city next
to Piazzale Roma.
As well as many more local trains, this station
is the terminus of the luxury Venice Simplon
Orient Express from Paris and London.
The Mestre station is on the mainland, on
the border between the boroughs of Mestre
and Marghera.Both stations are managed by
Grandi Stazioni; they are linked by the Ponte
della Libertà (Liberty Bridge) between the
mainland and the islands.
Others small stations in the municipality
are Venezia Porto Marghera, Venezia Carpenedo,
Venezia Mestre Ospedale, Venezia Mestre Porta
Ovest.
=== Ports ===
The Port of Venice (Italian: Porto di Venezia)
is the eighth-busiest commercial port in Italy
and is one of the most important in the Mediterranean
concerning the cruise sector, as a major hub
for cruise ships.
It is one of the major Italian ports and is
included in the list of the leading European
ports which are located on the strategic nodes
of trans-European networks.
In 2006, 30,936,931 tonnes passed through
the port, of which 14,541,961 was the commercial
sector, and saw 1,453,513 passengers.
In 2002, the port handled 262,337 containers.
=== Airports ===
Venice is served by the Marco Polo International
Airport (Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo),
named in honor of its noted citizen.
The airport is on the mainland and was rebuilt
away from the coast.
Public transport from the airport takes one
to:
Venice Piazzale Roma by ATVO (provincial company)
buses and by ACTV (city company) buses (route
5 aerobus);
Venice, Lido and Murano by Alilaguna (private
company) motor boats;
Mestre, the mainland and Venice Mestre railway
station (convenient for connections to Milan,
Padova, Trieste, Verona and the rest of Italy)
by ACTV lines (route 15 and 45) and by ATVO
lines;
regional destinations (Treviso, Padua, the
beach, ...) by ATVO buses and by Busitalia
Sita Nord buses (national company).Some airlines
market Treviso Airport in Treviso, 30 kilometres
(19 mi) from Venice, as a Venice gateway.
Some simply advertise flights to "Venice",
while naming the actual airport only in small
print.
There are public buses from this airport to
Venice.
Venezia-Lido "Giovanni Nicelli", a public
airport suitable for smaller aircraft, is
at the NE end of Lido di Venezia.
It has 
a 994-metre grass runway.
== Sport ==
The most Venetian sport is probably the "Voga
alla Veneta", also commonly called "Voga Veneta".
The Venetian Rowing is a technique invented
in the Venetian Lagoon which has the particularity
to see the rower(s), one or more, rowing standing
looking forward.
Today, the Voga alla Veneta is not only the
way the Gondolier row tourists around Venice
but also the way Venetians row for pleasure
and sport.
Many races called regata(e) happen throughout
the year.
The culminating event of the rowing season
is the day of the "Regata Storica", happening
on the first Sunday of September each year.The
main football club in the city is Venezia
F.C., founded in 1907, which currently plays
in the Serie B. Their ground, the Stadio Pierluigi
Penzo situated in Sant'Elena, is one of the
oldest venues in Italy.
The local basketball club is Reyer Venezia
Mestre, founded in 1872 as gymnastics club
Società Sportiva Costantino Reyer, and in
1907 as the basketball club.
Reyer currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie
A. The men's team won the Italian Championships
in 1942, 1943 and 2017.
Their arena is the Palasport Giuseppe Taliercio
situated in Mestre.
Luigi Brugnaro is both the president of the
club and the mayor of the city.
== Education ==
Venice is a major international centre for
higher education.
The city hosts the Ca' Foscari University
of Venice, founded in 1868; the Università
Iuav di Venezia, founded in 1926; the Venice
International University, an international
research center, founded in 1995 and located
on the island of San Servolo; and the EIUC-European
Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and
Democratisation, located on the island of
Lido di Venezia.Other Venetian institutions
of higher education are: the "Accademia di
Belle Arti" (Academy of Fine Arts), established
in 1750, whose first Chairman was Giovanni
Battista Piazzetta; and the Benedetto Marcello
Conservatory of Music, which, established
in 1876 as High School and Musical Society,
later (1915) became "Liceo Musicale" and finally
(1940), when its Director was Gian Francesco
Malipiero, State Conservatory of Music.
== Demographics ==
The city was one of the largest in Europe
in the High Middle Ages, with a population
of 60,000 in AD 1000; 80,000 in 1200; and
rising up to 110,000–180,000 in 1300.
In the mid 1500s the city's population was
170,000, and by 1600 almost 200,000.In 2009,
there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's
comune (the population estimate of 272,000
inhabitants includes the population of the
whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in
the historic city of Venice (Centro storico);
176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland); and
31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon),
of whom 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female.
Minors (children ages 18 and younger) were
14.36% of the population compared to pensioners
who numbered 25.7%.
This compared with the Italian average of
18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners).
The average age of Venice residents was 46
compared to the Italian average of 42.
In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the
population of Venice declined by 0.2%, while
Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%.
The population in the historic old city declined
much faster: from about 120,000 in 1980 to
about 60,000 in 2009, and to below 55,000
in 2016.As of 2009, 91% of the population
was Italian.
The largest immigrant group came from other
European nations: (Romanians, the largest
group: 3%, South Asia: 1.3%, and East Asia:
0.9%).
Venice is predominantly Roman Catholic (92.7%
of resident population in the area of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice in 2012),
but because of the long-standing relationship
with Constantinople, there is also a noticeable
Orthodox presence, and as a result of immigration,
there are now some Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist
inhabitants.
Since 1991 the Church of San Giorgio dei Greci
in Venice has become the see of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta and
Exarchate of Southern Europe, a Byzantine-rite
diocese under the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople.There is also a historic
Jewish community in Venice.
The Venetian Ghetto was the area in which
Jews were compelled to live under the Venetian
Republic.
The word ghetto, originally Venetian, is now
used in many languages.
Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice,
written in the late 16th century, features
Shylock, a Venetian Jew.
The first complete and uncensored printed
edition of the Talmud was printed in Venice
by Daniel Bomberg in 1523.
During World War II Jews were rounded up in
Venice and deported to extermination camps.
Since the end of the war the Jewish population
of Venice has declined from 1500 to about
500.
Only around 30 Jews live in the former ghetto
which houses the city's major Jewish institutions.
In modern times, Venice has an eruv, used
by the Jewish community.
== Culture ==
=== Literature ===
Venice has long been a source of inspiration
for authors, playwrights, and poets, and at
the forefront of the technological development
of printing and publishing.
Two of the most noted Venetian writers were
Marco Polo in the Middle Ages and later Giacomo
Casanova.
Polo (1254–1324) was a merchant who voyaged
to the Orient.
His series of books, co-written by Rustichello
da Pisa and titled Il Milione provided important
knowledge of the lands east of Europe, from
the Middle East to China, Japan, and Russia.
Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) was a prolific
writer and adventurer best remembered for
his autobiography, Histoire De Ma Vie (Story
of My Life), which links his colourful lifestyle
to the city of Venice.
Venetian playwrights followed the old Italian
theatre tradition of Commedia dell'arte.
Ruzante (1502–1542), Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793),
and Carlo Gozzi (1720–1806) used the Venetian
dialect extensively in their comedies.
Venice has also inspired writers from abroad.
Shakespeare set Othello and The Merchant of
Venice in the city, as did Thomas Mann with
his novel, Death in Venice (1912).
The French writer Philippe Sollers spent most
of his life in Venice and published A Dictionary
For Lovers Of Venice in 2004.
The city features prominently in Henry James'
The Aspern Papers and The Wings of the Dove.
It is also visited in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead
Revisited and Marcel Proust's In Search of
Lost Time.
Perhaps the most known children's book set
in Venice is The Thief Lord, written by the
German author Cornelia Funke.
The poet Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), born in
Zante, an island that at the time belonged
to the Republic of Venice, was also a revolutionary
who wanted to see a free republic established
in Venice following its fall to Napoleon.
Venice also inspired the poetry of Ezra Pound,
who wrote his first literary work in the city.
Pound died in 1972, and his remains are buried
in Venice's cemetery island of San Michele.
Venice is also linked to the technological
aspects of writing.
The city was the location of one of Italy's
earliest printing presses, established by
Aldus Manutius (1449–1515).
From this beginning Venice developed as an
important typographic center and even as late
as the 18th century was responsible for printing
half of Italy's published books.
==== In literature and adapted works ====
The city is a particularly popular setting
for essays, novels, and other works of fictional
or non-fictional literature.
Examples of these include:
Casanova's autobiographical History of My
Life,
Ben Jonson's Volpone (1605–6),
Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti crime
fiction series and cookbook, and the German
television series based on the novels
Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven (1982),
Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Chosen (historical
fantasy or alternate history) A large portion
of the novel takes place in a city known as
La Serenissima.
It is an alternative-history version of Venice,
complete with masquerades, canals and a Doge.
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice (ca. 1596–1598)
and Othello,
Philippe Sollers' Watteau in Venice, and
Voltaire's Candide.
Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities.Additionally,
Thomas Mann's novella, Death in Venice (1912),
was the basis for Benjamin Britten's eponymous
opera.
=== Art and printing ===
Venice, especially during the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance and Baroque periods, was
a major centre of art and developed a unique
style known as the Venetian School.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Venice,
along with Florence and Rome, became one of
the most important centres of art in Europe,
and numerous wealthy Venetians became patrons
of the arts.
Venice at the time was a rich and prosperous
Maritime Republic, which controlled a vast
sea and trade empire.
Venice has a rich and diverse architectural
style, the most prominent of which is the
Gothic style.
Venetian Gothic architecture is a term given
to a Venetian building style combining the
use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine
and Ottoman influences.
The style originated in 14th-century Venice,
where the confluence of Byzantine style from
Constantinople met Arab influence from Islamic
Spain.
Chief examples of the style are the Doge's
Palace and the Ca' d'Oro in the city.
The city also has several Renaissance and
Baroque buildings, including the Ca' Pesaro
and the Ca' Rezzonico.
By the end of the 15th century, Venice had
become the European capital of printing, being
one of the first cities in Italy (after Subiaco
and Rome) to have a printing press after those
established in Germany, having 417 printers
by 1500.
The most important printing office was the
Aldine Press of Aldus Manutius, which in 1499
printed the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, considered
the most beautiful book of the Renaissance,
and established modern punctuation, the page
format and italic type, and the first printed
work of Aristotle.
In the 16th century, Venetian painting was
developed through influences from the Paduan
School and Antonello da Messina, who introduced
the oil painting technique of the Van Eyck
brothers.
It is signified by a warm colour scale and
a picturesque use of colour.
Early masters were the Bellini and Vivarini
families, followed by Giorgione and Titian,
then Tintoretto and Veronese.
In the early 16th century, there was rivalry
in Venetian painting between the disegno and
colorito techniques.Canvases (the common painting
surface) originated in Venice during the early
Renaissance.
These early canvases were generally rough.
In the 18th century, Venetian painting had
a revival with Tiepolo's decorative painting
and Canaletto's and Guardi's panoramic views.
=== Venetian gothic architecture ===
Venetian Gothic is an architectural style
combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with
Byzantine and Moorish influences.
The style originated in 14th-century Venice
with the confluence of Byzantine styles from
Constantinople, Moorish influences from Al-Andalus,
and early Gothic forms from mainland Italy.
Chief examples of the style are the Doge's
Palace and the Ca' d'Oro in Venice.
=== Rococo architectural style ===
It can be argued that Venice produced the
best and most refined rococo designs.
At the time, Venice was in trouble.
It had lost most of its maritime power, was
lagging behind its rivals in political importance,
and society had become decadent, with nobles
wasting their money in gambling and partying.
But Venice remained Italy's fashion capital,
and was a serious contender to Paris in terms
of wealth, architecture, luxury, taste, sophistication,
trade, decoration, style, and design.
Venetian rococo was well known as rich and
luxurious, with usually very extravagant designs.
Unique Venetian furniture pieces included
the divani da portego, and long rococo couches
and pozzetti, objects meant to be placed against
the wall.
Bedrooms of rich Venetians were usually sumptuous
and grand, with rich damask, velvet, and silk
drapery and curtains, and beautifully carved
rococo beds with statues of putti, flowers
and angels.
Venice was especially known for its beautiful
girandole mirrors, which remained among, if
not the, finest in Europe.
Chandeliers were usually very colourful, using
Murano glass to make them look more vibrant
and stand out from others, and precious stones
and materials from abroad were used, since
Venice still held a vast trade empire.
Lacquer was very common, and many items of
furniture were covered with it, the most noted
being lacca povera (poor lacquer), in which
allegories and images of social life were
painted.
Lacquerwork and Chinoiserie were particularly
common in bureau cabinets.
=== Glass ===
Venice is known for its ornate glass-work,
known as Venetian glass.
It is world-renowned for being colourful,
elaborate, and skilfully made.
Many of the important characteristics of these
objects had been developed by the 13th century.
Toward the end of that century, the center
of the Venetian glass industry moved to Murano,
an offshore island in Venice.
The glass made there is known as Murano glass.
Byzantine craftsmen played an important role
in the development of Venetian glass, an art
form for which the city is well known.
When Constantinople was sacked in the Fourth
Crusade in 1204, some fleeing artisans came
to Venice.
This happened again when the Ottomans took
Constantinople in 1453, supplying Venice with
still more glassworkers.
By the 16th century, Venetian artisans had
gained even greater control over the color
and transparency of their glass, and had mastered
a variety of decorative techniques.
Despite efforts to keep Venetian glassmaking
techniques within Venice, they became known
elsewhere, and Venetian-style glassware was
produced in other Italian cities and other
countries of Europe.
Some of the most important brands of glass
in the world today are still produced in the
historical glass factories on Murano.
They are: Venini, Barovier & Toso, Pauly,
Millevetri, Seguso.
Barovier & Toso is considered one of the 100
oldest companies in the world, formed in 1295.
=== Cinema, media, and popular culture ===
Venice has been the setting or chosen location
of numerous films, games, works of fine art
and literature (including essays, fiction,
non-fiction, and poems), music videos, television
shows, and other cultural references.
=== Festivals ===
The Carnival of Venice is held annually in
the city, It lasts for around two weeks and
ends on Shrove Tuesday.
Venetian masks are worn.
The Venice Biennale is one of the most important
events in the arts calendar.
In 1895 an Esposizione biennale artistica
nazionale (biennial exhibition of Italian
art) was inaugurated.
The activities of the Biennale were interrupted
by the war in September 1942, but resumed
in 1948.The Festa del Redentore is held in
mid-July.
It began as a feast to give thanks for the
end of the plague of 1576.
A bridge of barges is built connecting Giudecca
to the rest of Venice, and fireworks play
an important role.
The Venice Film Festival (Italian Mostra Internazionale
d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia) is the
oldest film festival in the world.
Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata
in 1932 as the Esposizione Internazionale
d'Arte Cinematografica, the festival has since
taken place every year in late August or early
September on the island of the Lido.
Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo
del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi.
It is one of the world's most prestigious
film festivals and is part of the Venice Biennale.
==== In films ====
Examples of films set or at least partially
filmed in Venice include:
The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Don't Look Now (1973)
The Italian Job (2003)
Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice (1971)
Three James Bond films: From Russia with Love
(1963), Moonraker (1979), and Casino Royale
(2006)
The Tourist (2010)
Summertime (1955), starring Katharine Hepburn
Fellini's Casanova (1976)
Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973)
The Wings of the Dove (1997)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
A Little Romance (1979)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Dangerous Beauty (1988), the biography of
Veronica Franco
Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
Pokémon Heroes (2002), is set inside a city
based on Venice, although it is titled differently
and features sights not present within its
real-world equivalent.
(The city is otherwise virtually identical
to Venice.)
Blame It on the Bellboy (1992)
Inferno (2016)
=== Music ===
The city of Venice in Italy has played an
important role in the development of the music
of Italy.
The Venetian state – i.e., the medieval
Maritime Republic of Venice – was often
popularly called the "Republic of Music",
and an anonymous Frenchman of the 17th century
is said to have remarked that "In every home,
someone is playing a musical instrument or
singing.
There is music everywhere."During the 16th
century, Venice became one of the most important
musical centers of Europe, marked by a characteristic
style of composition (the Venetian school)
and the development of the Venetian polychoral
style under composers such as Adrian Willaert,
who worked at St Mark's Basilica.
Venice was the early center of music printing;
Ottaviano Petrucci began publishing music
almost as soon as this technology was available,
and his publishing enterprise helped to attract
composers from all over Europe, especially
from France and Flanders.
By the end of the century, Venice was known
for the splendor of its music, as exemplified
in the "colossal style" of Andrea and Giovanni
Gabrieli, which used multiple choruses and
instrumental groups.
Venice was also the home of many noted composers
during the baroque period, such as Antonio
Vivaldi, Ippolito Ciera, Giovanni Picchi,
and Girolamo Dalla Casa, to name but a few.
==== The orchestra ====
Venice has many orchestras of music: Orchestra
della Fenice, Rondò Veneziano, Interpreti
Veneziani, and Venice Baroque Orchestra.
==== In popular music ====
The city has been the setting for music videos
of such songs as Madonna's "Like a Virgin"
and Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Dear Prudence"
.
==== In video games ====
The city is the setting for parts of such
video games as Assassin's Creed II and Tomb
Raider II.
It has also served as inspiration for the
fictional city of Altissia, in Final Fantasy
XV.
The city also serves as a setting for The
House of the Dead 2.
The city appears as the first main level in
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.
Venice was the base theme for Soleanna, one
of the hub worlds in Sonic The Hedgehog.
One of the nine playable characters, Silver
The Hedgehog, was once a mink named "Venice"
during development.
The idea was ultimately scrapped.
=== Photography ===
Its splendid architecture, artworks, landscapes,
gondolas, the alternance of high and low tides,
the reflections of light and colors, and the
unusual daily scenes in a city living on water,
make of Venice and its islands a paradise
for photographers both professionals and amateurs.
Fulvio Roiter has probably been the pioneer
in artistic photography in Venice, followed
by a number of authors whose works are often
reproduced on postcards, thus reaching a widest
international popular exposure.
=== Cuisine ===
Venetian cuisine is characterized by seafood,
but also includes garden products from the
islands of the lagoon, rice from the mainland,
game, and polenta.
Venice is not known for a peculiar cuisine
of its own: it combines local traditions with
influences stemming from age-old contacts
with distant countries.
These include sarde in saór (sardines marinated
to preserve them for long voyages); bacalà
mantecato (a recipe based on Norwegian stockfish
and extra-virgin olive oil); bisàto (marinated
eel); risi e bisi, rice, peas and (not smoked)
bacon; fegato alla veneziana, Venetian-style
veal liver; risòto col néro de sépe (risotto
with cuttlefish, blackened by their ink);
cichéti, refined and delicious tidbits (akin
to tapas); antipasti (appetizers); and prosecco,
an effervescent, mildly sweet wine.
In addition, Venice is known for the golden,
oval-shaped cookies called baìcoli, and for
other types of sweets, such as: pan del pescaór
(bread of the fisherman); cookies with almonds
and pistachio nuts; cookies with fried Venetian
cream, or the bussolài (butter biscuits and
shortbread made in the shape of a ring or
of an "S") from the island of Burano; the
galàni or cróstoli (angel wings); the frìtole
(fried spherical doughnuts); the fregolòtta
(a crumbly cake with almonds); a milk pudding
called rosàda; and cookies called zaléti,
whose ingredients include yellow maize flour.The
dessert tiramisù is generally thought to
have been invented in Treviso in the 1970s,
and is popular in the Veneto area.
=== Fashion and shopping ===
In the 14th century, many young Venetian men
began wearing tight-fitting multicoloured
hose, the designs on which indicated the Compagnie
della Calza ("Trouser Club") to which they
belonged.
The Venetian Senate passed sumptuary laws,
but these merely resulted in changes in fashion
in order to circumvent the law.
Dull garments were worn over colourful ones,
which then were cut to show the hidden colours
resulting in the wide spread of men's "slashed"
fashions in the 15th century.
Today, Venice is a major fashion and shopping
centre, not as important as Milan, Florence,
and Rome, but on a par with Verona, Turin,
Vicenza, Naples, and Genoa.
Roberta di Camerino is the only major Italian
fashion brand to be based in Venice.
Founded in 1945, it is renowned for its innovative
handbags featuring hardware by Venetian artisans
and often covered in locally woven velvet,
and has been credited with creating the concept
of the easily recognisable status bag.
Many of the fashion boutiques and jewelry
shops in the city are located on or near the
Rialto Bridge and in the Piazza San Marco.
There are Louis Vuitton and Ermenegildo Zegna
flagship stores in the city.
If shopping for Venetian and Italian food
specialties and wine you can head to Mascari
or Casa del Parmigiano near Rialto and I Tre
Mercanti flagship store near Piazza San Marco.
== Notable people ==
Others closely associated with the city include:
Pietro Cesare Alberti (1608–1655), considered
the first Italian – American, arriving in
New Amsterdam in 1635.
Tomaso Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January
1751), a baroque composer.
Claudio Ambrosini (9 April 1948), composer
and conductor.
Pietro Bembo (20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547),
cardinal and scholar.
Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516), Renaissance
painter, probably the best known of the Bellini
family of painters.
Francesco Borgato (5 September 1990, Venice),
Italian recording artist and dancer.
Marco Antonio Bragadin (d.1571), general,
flayed alive by the Turks after a fierce resistance
during the siege of Famagusta.
Sebastian Cabot (c. 1484–1557, or soon after),
explorer.
Rosalba Carriera (7 October 1675 – 15 April
1757), known for her pastel works.
Canaletto (28 October 1697 – 19 April 1768),
known for his landscapes or vedute of Venice,
but not only.
Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798 in Dux, Bohemia,
(now Duchcov, Czech Republic)), a Venetian
adventurer, writer and womanizer.
Francesco Cavalli (14 February 1602 – 14
January 1676), a baroque composer.
Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838), opera librettist
and poet, wrote the librettos for 28 operas
by 11 composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart.
Enrico Dandolo (c. 1107, 1205), Doge of Venice
from 1192 to his death, played a direct role
in the Sack of Constantinople during the Fourth
Crusade.
Vincenzo Dandolo (1758–1819), chemist, agronomist
and politician of the Enlightenment Era.
Ludovico de Luigi (November 1933), Venetian
Surrealistic artist.
Pellegrino Ernetti, Catholic priest and exorcist.
Dominic DeNucci, (1932–) Professional wrestler
Veronica Franco (1546–1591), poet and courtesan
during the Renaissance.
Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1510–1586), Italian
composer and organist at St Mark's Basilica.
Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/1557–1612), composer
and organist at St Mark's Basilica.
Carlo Goldoni (25 February 1707 – 6 February
1793).
Along with Pirandello, Goldoni is probably
the most notable name in Italian theatre,
in his country and abroad.
Carlo Gozzi (13 December 1720 – 4 April
1806), dramatist of the 18th century.
Pietro Guarneri (14 April 1695 – 7 April
1762), left Cremona in 1718, settled in Venice.
"Peter of Venice" from the family of great
luthiers.
Baldassare Longhena (1598–18 February 1682),
one of the greatest exponents of Baroque architecture.
Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480–Loreto, 1556), painter,
draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally
placed in the Venetian school.
Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November
1973), an Italian-German orchestra director
and 20th-century music composer.
Aldus Manutius (1449–1515), one of the most
important printers in history.
Leon Modena (1571–1648) preacher, author,
poet, active in the Venetian ghetto and beyond.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), composer,
opera pioneer, and director of music at San
Marco.
Luigi Nono (29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990),
a leading composer of instrumental and electronic
music.
Joseph Pardo (c. 1561–1619), rabbi and merchant.
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (5 June 1646
– 26 July 1684), the first woman in the
world to receive a doctorate degree.
Marco Polo (c. 1254–8 January 1324), trader
and explorer, one of the first Westerners
to travel the Silk Road to China.
While a prisoner in Genoa, he dictated in
the tale of his travels known as Il Milione
(The Travels of Marco Polo).
Virgilio Ranzato (7 May 1883 – 20 April
1937), composer.
Frederick Rolfe (22 July 1860 – 25 October
1913), English author of the Venetian novel
The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole.
Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 1978, Sendai,
Japan), an architect with a profound understanding
of materials.
Romano Scarpa (27 September 1927, Venice–23
April 2005, Málaga), was one of the most
noted Italian creators of Disney comics.
Giuseppe Sinopoli (2 November 1946 – 20
April 2001), conductor and composer.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (5 March 1696 – 27
March 1770), the last "Grand Manner" fresco
painter from the Venetian Republic.
Tintoretto (1518–31 May 1594), probably
the last great painter of Italian Renaissance.
Titian (c. 1488–90–27 August 1576), leader
of the 16th-century Venetian school of the
Italian Renaissance (he was born in Pieve
di Cadore).
Elisabetta Caminèr Turra (1751–1796), writer.
Emilio Vedova (9 August 1919 – 25 October
2006), one of the most important modern painters
of Italy.
Sebastiano Venier, (c. 1496–3 March 1578),
Doge of Venice from 11 June 1577 to 1578.
Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678–28 July (or
27), 1741, Vienna), composer and violinist
of the Baroque Era.
Domenico Montagnana, (24 June 1686 – 6 March
1750) was an Italian master luthier.
He is regarded as one of the world's finest
violin and cello makers of his time.
== International relations ==
The City of Venice and the Central Association
of Cities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE)
established, in January 2000, in pursuance
of the EC Regulations n. 2137/85, the European
Economic Interest Grouping (E.E.I.G.)
Marco Polo System to promote and realise European
projects within transnational cultural and
tourist field, particularly referred to the
artistic and architectural heritage preservation
and safeguard.
=== Twin towns and sister cities ===
Venice is twinned with:
Yerevan, Armenia, since 2011
Dubrovnik, Croatia, since 2012In 2013, Venice
ended the sister city relationship with St.
Petersburg in opposition to laws Russia had
passed against homosexuals and those who support
gay rights.
=== Cooperation agreements ===
Venice has cooperation agreements with the
Greek city of Thessaloniki, the German city
of Nuremberg, signed on 25 September 1999,
and the Turkish city of Istanbul, signed on
4 March 1993, within the framework of the
1991 Istanbul Declaration.
It is also a Science and Technology Partnership
City with Qingdao, China.
== See also ==
List of islands of Italy
History of the Jews in Venice
List of buildings and structures in Venice
List of painters and architects of Venice
List of places called Venice of the East
Outline of Italy
Republic of Venice
Su e zo per i ponti
Veneti and Venetic language (the ancient spoken
language of the region)
Venetian Blinds
Venetian Ghetto
Venetian language (the modern spoken vernacular
of the region)
Venezia F.C.
Venezia Mestre Rugby FC – rugby team
Venice of the North
MOSE Project
