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VENICE
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Venice
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Venice
is the capital of the region of Veneto and the province of Venice.
It has a world-acclaimed reputation for being one of the most beautiful
and romantic cities in the world.
The city buildings and decorations, from Byzantine to Renaissance
styles, show great artistic achievement.
The works of the Venetian school of painting and art are represented
throughout Venetian palaces, public buildings and churches.
Venice is situated on 120 islands formed by 177 canals in the lagoon
between the mouths of the Po and Piave Rivers, at the northern extremity
of the Adriatic Sea. Because of its historic role as a naval power
and commercial center, the city is known as the "Queen of the
Adriatic."
A railroad and highway causeway connects Venice with the mainland.
No motor vehicles are permitted on the narrow, winding lanes and
streets that penetrate the old city and the bridges are for pedestrians
only.
For centuries the most common method of transportation was by gondola,
a flat-bottomed boat propelled by a single oar. Today mainly tourists
use the gondolas; motor launches carry almost all the freight and
passenger traffic in Venice.
The center and most frequented part of the city is  Saint
Mark's Square.
At the eastern end are Saint Mark's Cathedral and the Doges' Palace
(Palazzo Ducale), the two most important and imposing structures
in Venice. The cathedral (begun about 828, reconstructed after a
fire in 976, and rebuilt between 1047 and 1071) is considered an
outstanding example of Byzantine architecture. The palace (begun
about 814, destroyed four times by fire, and each time rebuilt on
a more magnificent scale) is a remarkable building in Italian Gothic
with some early Renaissance elements.
The Procuratie Vecchie (1496) and the southern side occupy the northern
side of the piazza by the Procuratie Nuove (1584); both built in
Italian Renaissance style.
During the time of the Venetian republic, these buildings were the
residences of the nine procurators, or magistrates, from among whom
the doge, or chief magistrate, was usually selected.
Along the two palaces and their extension, the Atrio or Fabbrica
Nuova (1810) extends arcades with cafes and shops. Near the Doges'
Palace stand two famous granite columns erected in 1180, one bearing
the winged lion of Saint Mark and the other Saint Theodore of Studium
on a crocodile.
The most conspicuous feature of the city is the campanile, or bell
tower, of Saint Mark. About 91 meters (or 300 feet) high, it was
built between 874 and 1150 and reconstructed after it collapsed
in 1902.
In the rear of the Doges' Palace is the famous Bridge of Sighs that
connects the palace with the public prisons and was the route by
which prisoners were taken to and from the judgment hall. The most
famous of the three bridges spanning the Grand Canal is the Rialto
(1588), lined with a double row of shops.
 The
Grand Canal, the principal traffic artery of Venice, is lined with
old palaces of the Venetian aristocracies, among which are many
structures of historical and architectural renown. Farther north,
near the lagoon, is the 15th-century Church of San Giovanni in Bragora,
a domed and columned edifice in the Italian Gothic style and once
the funeral church of the doges. In its vicinity is the greatest
monument in Venice, the 15th-century equestrian statue of the Venetian
general Bartolomeo Colleoni, the work of the Florentine artist Andrea
del Verrocchio.
The same section is the site of the Arsenal, a former center of
shipbuilding, and public gardens. Islands extend to the east in
the direction of the Lido, an island reef outside the lagoon that
is famous as a bathing beach and recreational resort.
Great museums, such as the Ca' d'Oro (located in a Gothic palace
on the Grand Canal), and historic churches are found throughout
the city. The Libreria Vecchia (Old Library) contains about 13,000
manuscripts and more than 80,000 books, some of immense value.
The University of Venice was founded in 1868.
History
The Veneti inhabited the area around Venice in ancient times. According
to tradition, the city was founded in A.D. 452, when the inhabitants
of Aquieleia, Padua and other northern Italian cities took refuge
on the islands of the lagoon from the Teutonic tribes that invaded
Italy during the 5th century. They established their own government
that was headed by tribunes for each of the 12 principal islands.
Although nominally part of the Eastern Roman Empire, Venice was
virtually autonomous. In 697 the Venetians organized Venice as a
republic under an elected doge. Internal dissension disturbed the
course of government during the following century, but the threat
of foreign invasion united the Venetians. Attacks by the Saracens
in 836 and by the Hungarians in 900 were repulsed. In 991 Venice
signed a commercial treaty with the Saracens, initiating the Venetian
policy of trading with the Muslims rather than fighting them. The
Crusades and the resulting development of trade with Asia led to
the establishment of Venice as the greatest commercial center for
trade with the East. The republic greatly profited from the partition
of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 and became politically the strongest
European power in the Mediterranean region. The growth of a wealthy
aristocracy gave rise to an attempt by the nobles to acquire political
dominance, and, although nominally a republic, Venice became a rigid
oligarchy by the end of the 13th century. In the 13th and 14th centuries,
Venice was involved in a series of wars with Genoa, its chief commercial
rival. In the war of 1378 - 1381, Genoa was compelled to acknowledge
Venetian supremacy. Wars of conquest enabled Venice to acquire neighboring
territories, and by the late 15th century, the city-state was the
leading maritime power in the Christian world.
The beginning of Turkish invasions in the middle of the 15th century
marked the end of Venetian greatness. Thereafter, faced with attacks
by foreign invaders and other Italian states, its power faded and
the discovery of a sea route to the Indies around the Cape of Good
Hope by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1497 - 1498 accelerated
the decline. In 1508 the Holy Roman Empire, the pope, France, and
Spain combined against Venice in the League of Cambrai and divided
the possessions among themselves, and although Venice reacquired
its Italian dominions through astute diplomacy in 1516, it never
regained its political power.
In 1797 the Venetian Republic was conquered and ended by Napoleon
Bonaparte who turned the territory over to Austria. In 1805 Austria
was compelled to yield Venice to the French-controlled kingdom of
Italy but regained it in 1814. A year later Venice and Lombardy
were combined to form the Lombard0-Venetia Kingdom. The Venetians,
under the Italian statesman Daniele Manin, revolted against Austrian
rule in 1848, and a new republic was established. Austria, however,
reestablished control a year later. In 1866, after the Seven Weeks'
War, Venice became part of the newly established kingdom of Italy.
Visitor Information
The APT run two official offices in Venice. The first is a small,
hectic desk at the train station (Tel. 041-719-078), open June through
September, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; October through May, Tuesday
through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The more mellow and roomy main
office is in a building on the Piazza San Marco. Both offices give
out maps and the invaluable Italian-English biweekly Un Ospite di
Venezia, with exhaustive museum, train, gondola and concert listings.
The station office also makes hotel reservations. Main Office: San
Marco 71/G, Tel. 041-522-6356. Located at the end of the Procuratie
Nuove on Piazza San Marco. Open June through September, 9:30 to
12:30 and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.; October through May, weekdays, 9:30
to 12:30.
Rolling Venice Card
For ages between 14 and 29, a small fee entitles you to reduced
entries to all major museums, half-price tickets for the symphony
and discounts on restaurants, hotels, bike rental and even Benetton.
The information that comes with the card is itself worth the small
price: a decent map marked with all of the places that give discounts;
a book with some interesting walking tours; and another booklet
of useful phone numbers. From June through September, Rolling Venice
sets up two temporary offices where you can buy the card: one in
the train station (tel. 041-521-2904; open daily from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m.), and one at the southwest corner of Piazza San Marco (tel.
041-521-2904; open daily 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.). The rest of the
year you have to hunt for their central office (the APT will give
you a map).
Consulates
The United States consulate closest to Venice is in Milan (tel.
02-290-351). Open weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Festivals
February/March: Carnivale in Venice is a weeklong
costume party featuring drunken revelers in outfits that have been
planned for months. Parades and performances incorporating the traditional
Venetian versions of Commedia dell'Arte masks and costumes are held
more or less daily. Though the costumes are traditional, the modern
Carnivale has only been celebrated for about fifteen years. The
more cynical see it as a ploy to lure tourists here in the off-season,
but the locals seem to enjoy themselves anyway. The date varies,
but it's always at the end of February or beginning of March, right
before the start of Lent.
May: The volgalonga is a 32-kilometer rowing marathon open to anyone
with a boat. Participants (some in widely-decorated craft, some
sleek, high-tech machines, and others in tubs that barely float)
row their way from San Marco to Burano and back. The event usually
falls on Ascension Sunday in May or June, when the mayor performs
the ritual of La Sensa. Formally a solemn, symbolic procession,
during which the doge would toss a ring into the water to celebrate
Venice's "marriage" to the sea; it's now a tourist mess
that's better avoided.
July: On the third Sunday in July, Venice holds
the Festa del Redentore, an offer of thanks to Jesus for ending
a plague back in the 1500s. A makeshift pontoon bridge is built
from Venice to the church of II Redentore on Giudecca Island. The
real fun comes at night, when an unbelievable fireworks display
explodes over the tens of thousand of Venetians; it starts about
11:15 p.m. and lasts until midnight.
August & September: In late August and September,
Venice's International Film Festival is held at the Lido. The best
of foreign and Italian films are shown at the Palazzo del Cinema
(tel. 041-526-0188) and the Asta (Via Cortu, tel. 041-526-0289).
Admission is the same as for a normal movie unless it is the opening
night; expect long lines. On the first Sunday in September, Venice
holds the Regatta Storica (half boat race, half waterborne parade)
with a procession of historically evocative boats containing people
dressed as the doge and his entourage. The race is only for experts,
usually burly bondoliers, so it's exciting to watch.
November: Salute on November 21st is another plague
festival that is a more somber event. The pious light candles and
pray, and a string of boats cross the Grand Canal from San Marco
to the church of Santa Maria della Salute.
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