Venice
Venice is an ancient historic city in the northeast of Italy. It is built on 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by 400 bridges. It has many churches, palaces and beautiful ancient buildings. Tourists from all over the world visit the city to enjoy its architecture, good food and the magic atmosphere it possesses. It is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.
History
The myth says that Venice was founded by people who ran away from the ancient city of Troy, but it was probably founded by people running away from invaders in 600 A.D. Over the centuries Venice grew into a very important city for trade and commerce, as a result, the city became very rich and powerful. Eventually, it evolved into one of the greatest trading powers in Europe, with 36.000 sailors and a fleet of 3.300 ships. Its power and wealth also came from great explorers and adventurers such as Niccolò de’ Conti and Marco Polo, who established new trade routes with China. For many centuries Venice was a very cosmopolitan city and people from different parts of the ancient world lived there: art, music, and architecture flourished in this city.
Art, Music and Monuments
Since Renaissance times Venice has been a city of the arts; it is famous for painters such as Tiziano, Tintoretto and Canaletto who were all from Venice, as were also the composers Vivaldi and Albinoni. To this day, many festivals take place in Venice: every two years there is the very important art/design festival ‘La Biennale’ and once a year the city hosts the International Film Festival, one of the oldest festivals in the World. Of special note there is also the Carnival of Venice, with its many colours and masks, this event lasts for two weeks and attracts visitors from all over the World. Finally, there are the fantastic monuments such as Piazza San Marco defined by Napoleon as, “the most beautiful living room in Europe” Palazzo Ducale, Canale Grande, Ponte Rialto and many other wonderful sites to be discovered, if you decide to visit this enchanting city.