Venice

Situated in north-eastern Italy, Venice is often called the city built on water. It is the capital of the province of Venetia and has a population of 270,660. With its magnificent canals, architecture and art treasures, Venice has been a tourist attraction since the seventeenth century.

The city is built on 118 little islands lying in a protected lagoon in the Gulf of Venice, in the north Adriatic Sea. I tis a unique city, with all traffic being pedestrian or on water along one of the many canals that dissect the city.

The Grand Canal is the main traffic artery and its twisting course cuts through the center of the city. The Rialto Bridge, built in 1588-91, crosses the Grand Canal with a single marble arch. Since the main streets are canals, all the secular buildings were originally approached from the water. Some of the canals have been filled in as a greater demand for foot-access developed, especially for the churches. Travel along the canals is by gondola, used today mainly by tourists, and by motorboats.

Originally Venice was only linked to the mainland by ferry boat but in 1841 a four-kilometer railway bridge was built.

The water that gives Venice its essential character is also slowly destroying the city. Venice is slowly sinking and the buildings suffer further deterioration in the damp conditions and high tides.

The islands that make up Venice were first settled in about AD 400 by people fleeing from the mainland. In 697 the first Doge of the Republic of Venice was elected. The power that the city developed was dependent on the sea and the excellent ships which the Venetians built.

During the Crusades Venice extended its territory over most of the eastern Mediterranean, including Dalmatia, Cyprus and Crete. The crusades increased the wealth of the city as the Venetians provided a ferry service for the crusaders to Syria and Palestine.

In the thirteenth century the Venetians persuaded the crusaders to sack Constantinople, which removed a major rival as well as gaining many treasures for the city.

By the middle of the fifteenth century Constantinople was again controlled by the Turks and new trade routes outside the Mediterranean had been found. The power of Venice was severely reduced. Venice was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797 and handed over to Austria. In 1866 it was integrated into Italy.

Most of the buildings in Venice are built of stone and many show a definite Byzantine influence due to the association with Constantinople.

St Mark's Church, facing onto the beautiful square, is probably the best known building in Venice. The basilica was first built in 829-32 and was rebuilt in the eleventh century, having been destroyed by fire. It is built on the plan of a Greek cross with a central dome and smaller domes on each arm of the cross. The four bronze horses of St Mark dominate the entrance.

The horses were originally Roman and were moved to Constantinople during the later Roman Empire, from where the Venetians took them as plunder. Other churches in Venice, built at a later date, show a Baroque influence.

The ducal palace is Gothic and was built in the fourteenth century. It is linked to the prison, across a canal, by the Bridge of Sighs, a stone-covered bridge built in the sixteenth century. Prisoners were led across the bridge to prison after they had been tried in the palace.

The Academy is the principal art gallery in Venice. Paintings by Veronese may be seen, including The Feast At the House of Levi and The Rape of Europa, which is in the ducal palace. Titian's last work, the magnificentPieta, is in the Academy. Carpaccio is represented by many works including the St Ursula series. Tintoretto's Paradise, supposed to be the largest oil painting in the world, is housed in the ducal palace. Music

Music has been an integral part of Venetian life since the sixteenth century. In 1637 the first public opera house was opened. It depended on people paying for their seats rather than government or aristocratic support. Scarlatti and Handel conducted their own operas in Venice and musicians such as Monteverdi and Vivaldi lived and worked for most of their lives in the city.