Venice, Italy

For other uses, see Venice, Italy (disambiguation).

Comune di {{{name}}}
Country	Italy
Region	Veneto
Province	Venice (VE)
Mayor	Massimo Cacciari (since April 18 2005)
Population (as of January 1 2004)
- Total
- Density	[n.a.]
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	45°26′N 12°19′E
Gentilic	Veneziani
Dialing code	041
Postal code	30100
Frazioni	Chirignago, Favaro Veneto, Mestre, Marghera, Murano, Burano, Giudecca, Lido, Zelarino
Patron	St. Mark the Evangelist
- Day	April 25
Website: www.comune.venezia.it

Venice and its Lagoon*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Italy
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi
Reference	394
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1987  (11th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia, Latin: Venetia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). Together with Padua (Padova), the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000). Venice's nicknames include "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light".

The city stretches across numerous small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers. The population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 62,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (literally firm land, the areas outside the lagoon), mostly in the large frazione of Mestre and Marghera; and 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon.

The Venetian Republic was a major sea power and a staging area for the Crusades, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially the spice trade) and art in the Renaissance. Though ironically the city-state lost much of its power and importance due to the decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire, which Venice helped to destroy. This was due to the fact that Turkish control of the Eastern Mediterranean gave the European maritime powers incentive to find trade routes elsewhere.

History

Origins and History

Location of Venice in Italy and the Venetian Lagoon.

While there are no historical records that deal directly with the origins of Venice, the available evidence has led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice comprised refugees from Roman cities such as Padua, Aquileia, Altino and Concordia (modern Portogruaro) who were fleeing successive waves of barbarian invasions. Starting in 166-168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the main center in the area, the current Oderzo. The Roman defenses 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 was that of the Lombards in 568. This left the Eastern Roman Empire; a small strip of coast in current Veneto, and the main administrative and religious entities, were therefore transferred to this remaining dominion. New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The Byzantine domination of central and northern Italy was largely eliminated by the conquest of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751 by Aistulf. During this period, the seat of the local Byzantine governor (the "duke", later "doge") was located in Malamocco. Settlement across the islands in the lagoon probably increased in correspondence with the Lombard conquest of the Byzantine territories. In 775-776, the bishopric seat of Olivolo (Helipolis) was created. During the reign of duke Agnello Particiaco (811-827) the ducal seat was moved from Malamocco to the highly protected Rialto (Rivoalto, "High Shore") island, 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 defence (civitatis murus) between Olivolo and Rialto were subsequently built here. In 828, the new city's prestige was raised by the theft of the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, which were placed in the new basilica. The patriarchal seat was also moved to Rialto. As the community continued to develop and as Byzantine power waned, an increasingly anti-Eastern character emerged, leading to the growth of autonomy and eventual independence.

St. Mark's Square in Venice.

These Horses of Saint Mark are a replica of the Triumphal Quadriga captured in Constantinople in 1204 and carried to Venice as a trophy.

Expansion

From the ninth to the twelfth century Venice developed into a city state (an Italian thalassocracy or Repubblica Marinara, the other three being Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi). Its strategic position at the head of the Adriatic made Venetian naval and commercial power almost invulnerable. The city became a flourishing trade center between Western Europe and the rest of the world (especially the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world).

In the 12th century the foundations of Venice's power were laid: the Venetian Arsenal was under construction in 1104; Venice wrested control of the Brenner pass from Verona in 1178, opening a lifeline to silver from Germany; the last autocratic doge, Vitale Michiele, died in 1172.

The Republic of Venice seized 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 "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 acquired control of most of the islands in the Aegean, including Cyprus and Crete, 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 became an imperial power following the Fourth Crusade, which (under Venetian control and blackmail) seized Constantinople in 1204 and established the Latin Empire; Venice herself carved out a sphere of influence known as the Duchy of the Archipelago. Unfortunately, this seizure of Constantinople would ultimately prove as decisive a factor in ending the Byzantine Empire as the loss of the Anatolian themes after Manzikert. Though the Byzantines recovered control of the ravaged city a half century later, the Byzantine Empire was greatly weakened, and existed as a ghost of its old self until Sultan Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453. Considerable Byzantine plunder was brought back to Venice, including the Winged Lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice.

Situated on the Adriatic Sea, Venice traded with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world extensively. During the late thirteenth 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. During this time, 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 most influential families in Venice. The Great Council appointed all public officials and elected a Senate of 200 to 300 individuals. The Senate then chose the Council of Ten, a secretive group which held the utmost power in the administration of the city. One member of the great council was elected "doge", or duke, the ceremonial head of the city.

The Venetian governmental structure was similar in some ways to the republican system of ancient Rome, with an elected executive power (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, though 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 completely separate, except when on occasion the Doge personally led 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).

File:Venice 49.jpg

Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo.

The chief executive was the Doge (duke), who, theoretically, held his elective office for life. In practice, a number of Doges were forced by pressure from their oligarchical peers to resign the office and retire into monastic seclusion when they were felt to have been discredited by perceived political failure.

View of Venice to San Giorgio Maggiore Island from St. Mark's Campanile.

Though the people of Venice generally remained orthodox Roman Catholics, the state of Venice was notable for its freedom from religious fanaticism and it enacted not a single execution for religious heresy during the Counter-Reformation. This apparent lack of zeal contributed to Venice's frequent conflicts with the Papacy. Venice was threatened with the interdict on a number of occasions and twice suffered its imposition. The second, most famous, occasion was on April 27, 1509, by order of Pope Julius II (see League of Cambrai).

Venetian ambassadors sent home still-extant secret reports of the politics and rumours of European courts, providing fascinating information to modern historians.

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 her political influence. However, the Venetian empire was a major exporter of agricultural products and, until the mid eighteenth-century, a significant manufacturing center.

A map of the historical heart of Venice.

Modern Venice

After 1070 years, the Republic lost its independence when Napoleon Bonaparte on May 12, 1797, conquered Venice during the First Coalition. The French conqueror brought to an end the most fascinating century of its history: It was during the Settecento (1700s) that Venice became perhaps the most elegant and refined city in Europe, greatly influencing art, architecture, and literature. 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 October 12, 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. In 1848-1849 a revolt briefly reestablished the Venetian Republic. In 1866, following the Seven Weeks War, Venice, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of Italy.

After 1797, the city fell into a serious decline, with many of the old palaces and other buildings abandoned and falling into disrepair, although the Lido became a popular beach resort in the late 19th century.

Military and naval affairs

Several gondolas docked in Venice.

Gondola on Grand Canal beside Rialto Bridge.

By 1303, crossbow practice had become compulsory in the city, with citizens training in groups. As weapons became more expensive and complex to operate, professional soldiers were assigned to help work merchant sailing ships and as rowers in galleys. The company of "Noble Bowmen" was recruited in the later 14th century from among the younger aristocracy and served aboard both war-galleys and as armed merchantmen, with the privilege of sharing the captain's cabin.

Though Venice was famous for its navy, its army was equally effective. In the 13th century, most Italian city states already were hiring mercenaries, but Venetian troops were still recruited from the lagoon, plus feudal levies from Dalmatia and Istria. In times of emergency, all males between seventeen and sixty years were registered and their weapons were surveyed, with those called to actually fight being organized into companies of twelve. The register of 1338 estimated that 30,000 Venetian men were capable of bearing arms; many of these were skilled crossbowmen. As in other Italian cities, aristocrats and other wealthy men were cavalrymen while the city's conscripts fought as infantry.

By 1450, more than 3,000 Venetian merchant ships were in operation, and most of these could be converted when necessary into either warships or transports. The government required each merchant ship to carry a specified number of weapons (mostly crossbows and javelins) and armor; merchant passengers were also expected to be armed and to fight when necessary. A reserve of some 25 (later 100) war-galleys was maintained in the Arsenal. Galley slaves did not exist in medieval Venice, the oarsmen coming from the city itself or from its possessions, especially Dalmatia. Those from the city were chosen by lot from each parish, their families being supported by the remainder of the parish while the rowers were away. Debtors generally worked off their obligations rowing the galleys. Rowing skills were encouraged through races and regattas.

Early in the 15th century, as new mainland territories were expanded, the first standing army was organized, consisting of condottieri on contract. In its alliance with Florence in 1426, Venice agreed to supply 8,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry in time of war, and 3,000 and 1,000 in peacetime. Later in that century, uniforms were adopted that featured red-and-white stripes, and a system of honors and pensions developed. Throughout the 15th century, Venetian land forces were almost always on the offensive and were regarded as the most effective in Italy, largely because of the tradition of all classes carrying arms in defense of the city and official encouragement of general military training.

The command structure in the army was different from that in the fleet. By ancient law, no nobleman could command more than twenty-five men (to prevent against sedition by private armies), and while the position of Captain General was introduced in the mid-14th century, he still had to answer to a civilian panel of twenty "wise men". Not only was efficiency not degraded, this policy saved Venice from the military takeovers that other Italian city states so often experienced. A civilian commissioner (not unlike a commissar) accompanied each army to keep an eye on things, especially the mercenaries. The Venetian military tradition also was notably cautious; they were more interested in achieving success with a minimum expense of lives and money than in the pursuit of glory.

Transport

The Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs.

Venice is world-famous for its canals. It is built on an archipelago of 122 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century a causeway to the mainland brought a railway station to Venice, and an automobile causeway and parking lot was added in the 20th century. Beyond these 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 carfree area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

Two vaporetti approach each other on the Canale Grande.

The classical Venetian boat is the gondola, although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies. Most Venetians now travel by motorised waterbuses ("vaporetti") which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city's islands. The city also has many private boats. The only gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges.

Venice is served by the newly rebuilt Marco Polo International Airport, or Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo, named in honor of its famous citizen. The airport is on the mainland and was rebuilt away from the coast so that visitors now need to get a bus to the pier, from which a water taxi or Alilaguna waterbus can be used.

View of Venice from St Mark's Campanile.

Main sights

Grand Canal

File:Small canal - Venice.jpg

A small canal in Venice (Rio della Verona).

A winter sunset across the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.

Piazza San Marco and its famous pigeons.

Sestieri

The sestieri are the primary traditional divisions of Venice. The city is divided into the six districts of Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro (including the Giudecca), Santa Croce, San Marco (including San Giorgio Maggiore), and Castello (including San Pietro di Castello and Sant'Elena). At the front of the Gondolas that work in the city there is a large piece of metal intended as a likeness of the Doge's hat. On this sit six notches pointing forwards and one pointing backwards. Each of these represent one of the Sestieri (the one which points backwards represents Giudecca).

Piazzas and campi of Venice

• Piazza San Marco
• Campo San Polo

Palaces and palazzi

• Doge's Palace
• Palazzo Grassi
• Ca' d'Oro
• Ca' Rezzonico
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection
• Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
• Fondaco dei Turchi
• Palazzo Labia
• Scuola Grande di San Marco
• Palazzo Malipiero

Churches

• Basilica di San Marco
• Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
• Other churches

Other buildings

• Accademia
• The Arsenal
• La Fenice opera house
• La Torre dell'Orologio (St Mark's Clock)

Bridges and canals

• Rialto Bridge
• The Bridge of Sighs
• Accademia Bridge
• Scalzi Bridge
• Piazzale Roma Footbridge

Surroundings

• The Venetian Lagoon
• Islands:
  • Burano
  • Lido
  • Murano
  • San Michele
  • Sant'Erasmo
  • San Lazzaro degli Armeni
  • San Servolo
  • Torcello
  • Vignole
• Giudecca

Venetian Villas

The villas of the Veneto, rural residences for nobles during the Republic, are one of the most interesting aspects of Venetian countryside.

They are surrounded by elegant gardens, suitable for fashionable parties of high society. Most of these villas were designed by Palladio, and are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

According to the architects, water around the villas was a very important architectural element because it added more brilliance to the façade.

Sinking of Venice

High water in Venice.

Venice and surroundings in false colour, from TERRA satellite. The picture is oriented with North at the top.

The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wood piles, which were imported from Russia, (under water, in the absence of oxygen, wood does not decay) which penetrate alternating layers of clay and sand. Wood for piles was cut in the most western part of today's Slovenia, resulting in the barren land in a region today called Kras, and in two regions of Croatia, Lika and Gorski kotar (resulting in the barren slopes of Velebit). Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. The foundations rest on the piles, and buildings of brick or stone sit above these footings. The buildings are 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.

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 the aquifer was the cause. This sinking process has slowed markedly since artesian wells were banned in the 1960s. However, the city is still threatened by more frequent low-level floods (so-called Acqua alta, "high water") that creep to a height of several centimeters over its quays, regularly following certain tides. In many old houses the former staircases used by people to unload goods are now flooded, rendering the former ground floor uninhabitable. Thus, many Venetians resorted to moving up to the upper floors and continuing with their lives.

Some recent studies have suggested that the city is no longer sinking ^{[citation needed]}, but this is not yet certain; therefore, a state of alert has not been revoked. In May 2003 the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi inaugurated the MOSE project (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), an experimental model for evaluating the performance of inflatable gates; the idea is to lay a series of 79 inflatable pontoons across the sea bed at the three entrances to the lagoon. When tides are predicted to rise above 110 centimetres, the pontoons will be filled with air and block the incoming water from the Adriatic sea. This engineering work is due to be completed by 2011.

Some experts say that the best way to protect Venice is to physically lift the City to a greater height above sea level - by pumping water into the soil underneath the city. This way, some hope, it could rise above sea levels, protecting it for hundreds of years, and eventually the MOSE project may not be necessary (it will, controversially, alter the tidal patterns in the lagoon, damaging some wildlife). A further point about the "lifting" system would be that it would be permanent - the MOSE Project is, by its very nature, a temporary system: it is expected to protect Venice for only 100 years.

File:Mascaras carnaval.jpg

Typical masks worn during the Carnival of Venice.

Art Biennale

The Venice Art Biennale is one of the most important events in the arts calendar. Site in English and Italian

In 1893 headed by the mayor of Venice, Riccardo Selvatico, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution on 19th April to set up an Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale (biennial exhibition of Italian art), to be inaugurated on 22nd April 1894.[1] Following the outbreak of hostilities during the Second World War, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted in September 1942, but resumed in 1948. [2]

Venice in culture, the arts, and fiction

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 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 — which resulted in the wide spread of men's "slashed" fashions in the 15th century.

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 San Marco. 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 famous for the splendor of its music, as exemplified in the "colossal style" of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, which used multiple choruses and instrumental groups.

Canvases (the common painting surface) originated in Venice during the early renaissance. These early canvases were generally rough.

Life in 1750s Venice is illustrated by the biography A Venetian Affair, which is based on the prolific love letters between a Venetian nobleman and his illegitimate half-English lover.

A remarkable, and unflattering, portrait of Venetian politics appears in The Bravo, published in 1831 by American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. A bravo is an assassin under contract to the state, typically carrying out his assignments with a stiletto. Cooper's novel depicts Venice as a brutal dictatorship, governed through intrigue and murder, masked by the placid facade of the Repubblica Serenissima (serene republic).

Other major works involving Venice include:

Literature

• William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1594-97) and Othello (1603-04)
• Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities.
• Wilkie Collins's The Haunted Hotel (1878)
• Philippe Sollers's Watteau in Venice (1994)
• Ben Jonson's Volpone
• Friedrich Schiller's Der Geisterseher (The Ghost-Seer)
• Henry James' The Aspern Papers (1888)
• Death in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig), a 1912 novella by Thomas Mann
• Orhan Pamuk's short stories "Batsin Bu Dünya" (1983) and "Emrah Gülle Gel de Gülme" (1983)
• T. S. Eliot's "Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar" (1920)
• The Silent Gondoliers, a fable told by William Goldman's S. Morgenstern
• Patricia Highsmith's the Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) and Those Who Walk Away (1967)
• Jeanette Winterson's The Passion (1987)
• Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series (8 book series)
• John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels (2005)
• Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven
• Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Assignation
• Muriel Spark's Territorial Rights
• Ethan Mordden's The Venice Adriana
• Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord (2002)
• Sarah Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan (2006)
• Ernest Hemingway's Across the River and Into the Trees
• Michelle Lovric's The Floating Book and Carnevale and The Remedy
• Ian McEwan's "The Comfort of Strangers"
• Jane Langton's The Thief of Venice
• Giacomo Casanova's History of My Life
• Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza: City of Masks
• Kai Meyer's "The Water Mirror"

• Donna Jo Napoli's "Daughter of Venice" 1894
• Sally Vicker's Miss Garnet's Angel
• Daphne du Maurier's Don't Look Now
• Francesco da Mosto's Francesco's Venice
• Francesco da Mosto's Francesco's Italy
• Voltaire's Candide
• Emmanuel Roblès's Venice in the Winter

Films

• From Russia with Love, the James Bond film (1963) (based on Ian Fleming's novel (1957))
• The Honey Pot, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1967 (based i.a. on Ben Jonson's Volpone), with Rex Harrison, Capucine, Maggie Smith
• Death in Venice, 1971 film adaptation by Luchino Visconti of Thomas Mann's 1912 novella
• Don't Look Now, 1973 film directed by Nicolas Roeg based on Daphne Du Maurier's story, with Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie
• Moonraker, the 1979 James Bond film (the first time principal photography for the series took place in the city)
• Casino Royale, the 2006 James Bond film
• Solamente Nero (also known as The Bloodstained Shadow), directed by Antonio Bido (1978)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• The Comfort of Strangers by Paul Schrader (1990)
• Nikita (also known as La Femme Nikita) (1990)
• Blame It On The Bellboy (1992) directed by Mark Herman
• Only You (1994)
• The Wings of the Dove (1997)
• Dangerous Beauty (1998), a film based on the book The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal about the life of Veronica Franco
• The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
• The Italian Job (in its 2003 remake incarnation)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
• Just Married (2003)
• The Merchant of Venice (2004)
• Casanova (2005 film loosely based on the life of Giacomo Casanova, starring Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001 film), based on the Tomb Raider videogame series.
• Fellini's Casanova (1976 film directed by Federico Fellini)
• Senso , starring Alida Valli and Farley Granger; directed by Luchino Visconti (1954). Dramatic. Venice at the times of Austrian occupation
• Everyone Says I Love You, starring Woody Allen, Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts; directed by Woody Allen (1996). Musical comedy set in New York and in Venice.
• The Story of Us, by Rob Reiner, starring Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tim Matheson (USA, 1999)
• Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn; directed by David Lean (1955). Interiors shot in Pensione Accademia Villa Maravegie
• Othello by Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles and Suzanne Cloutier , Othello was filmed on and off over a period of three years. (Morocco, Italy, France, USA, 1952)
• Children of the Century by D. Kurys (Juliette Binoche, Benoit Maginel, Stefano Dionisi) 1999
• The Thief Lord (2006) Aaron Johnson, Rollo Weeks
• Pokémon Heroes (2003) (Main city, Altomare, based on Venice)
• Chasing Liberty, starring, Mandy Moore and Stark Sands, Directed by Andy Cadiff (2004 film)
• In addition, the audio Doctor Who adventure The Stones of Venice is set in a future where one last great Carnival is being held before the city sinks forever
• Venice Party Animals (2008)

Television Shows

• The 1980s "Jem" episode, "In Stitches" takes place in this city.
• The manga and anime series ARIA take place in the town of Neo-Venezia, based on Venice.

Video games

• The Merchant Prince series are based on the trading and politics of Venice during the Renaissance era. The player plays one of the competing Venetian merchants trying to gain wealth and power through trades, power plays, and Machiavellian skullduggery.
• The catacombs and the church of San Barnaba are visited in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure.
• Venice appeared in Core Design's Tomb Raider 2.
• Venice was a multiplayer level in Free Radical Design's Timesplitters: Future Perfect.
• A fighting arena based around Venice can be found in Soul Calibur II. The fight takes place upon a stone platform isolated in Venice's water-filled streets. Typical residential Venice buildings are portrayed in the background of the level, although the fight does not take place in any of them.
• Venice appears as a fighting arena in the first Tekken game released on the PlayStation.
• Venice appears as a map in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, in which the Allied agents need to steal an artifact and escape the city on a boat through its canals.
• Venice is a playable level in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves and the first after the prelude.
• The Republic Of Venice is available as an initial playable faction in the game Medieval 2: Total War
• The canals of Venice are the site of a race in the arcade game Hydro Thunder.
• The first-person shooter Painkiller features a level inspired by Venice.
• The latest Sonic the Hedgehog series game, Sonic the Hedgehog, has a city in it based on Venice, Italy.
• In the Super Nintendo game, Tales of Phantasia, the city of Venezia is modeled after Venice.
• Gears of War features a map that resembles Venice (Canals)
• The La Razza Canal course from the Gamecube game, Wave Race: Blue Storm was likely modeled after Venice.
• You are able to take photographs of your tuned-up car in Gran Turismo 4 released on the PlayStation 2, in two locations in Venice, St. Marks Square, and also on a barge going under the Rialto Bridge.

Music

• The great Italian composer Luigi Nono (1924-1990) was born and lived in Venice. The noted composer Baldassarre Galuppi (1706-1785) was also a Venetian, especially celebrated for his operas.
• On July 15 1989, Pink Floyd played live on a floating barge in the middle of The Grand Canal during their "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" tour.
• In 1984, Madonna's music video for her song "Like a Virgin," directed by Mary Lambert, was shot in Venice, Italy. It featured Madonna dancing on a gondola and in a wedding dress.
• In 1960, Armenian-French singer Charles Aznavour recorded Que C'Est Triste Venise (How Sad Venice Is). It eventually become one of his most famous bilingual pieces, sung in both Italian and French.

Miscellaneous

• The city's patron is St. Mark the Evangelist.
• Venice is also famous world-wide for its unique carnival (1).
• Venice and its lagoon are listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Famous Venetians

For persons from Venice, see People from Venice. Others closely associated with the city include:

• Enrico Dandolo (c. 1107 , 1205), Doge of Venice from 1192 to his death. It played a direct role in the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.
• Titian (c. 1488-90 – August 27, 1576), was the leader of the 16th century Venetian school of the Italian Renaissance (he was born in Pieve di Cadore).
• Pietro Bembo (May 20, 1470 - 18 January, 1547), cardinal and scholar.
• Marcantonio Bragadin (d.1571) general flayed alive by the Turks after a fierce resistance during the siege of Famagusta
• Lorenzo Lotto ( c.1480 - Loreto, 1556) was a painter draughtsman and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school.
• Veronica Franco (1546-1591), poet and courtesan during the Renaissance
• Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678, July 28 (or 27), 1741, Vienna), famous composer and violinist of the Baroque Era
• Giacomo Casanova (1725 - 1798), in Dux, Bohemia, (now Duchcov, Czech Republic) was a famous Venetian adventurer, writer and womanizer.
• Rosalba Carriera (October 7, 1675 – April 15, 1757), She became known for her pastel works.
• Emilio Vedova (August 9 1919), one of the most important modern painters of Italy
• Tintoretto (1518 - May 31, 1594), probably the last great painter of Italian Renaissance.
• Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), he was a Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of painters.
• Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (June 5 1646 - July 26 1684), she was the first woman in the world to receive a doctorate degree.
• Bruno Maderna (April 21 1920 - November 13 1973), he was an Italian-German orchestra director and 20th century music composer.
• Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (March 5, 1696 - March 27, 1770), he was the last "Grand Manner" fresco painter from the Venetian Republic.
• Baldassare Longhena (1598 - February 18 1682), he was one of the greatest exponents of Baroque architecture.
• Carlo Goldoni (February 25, 1707 - February 6, 1793), Along with Pirandello, Goldoni is probably the most famous name in Italian theatre, in his country and abroad.
• Carlo Gozzi (13 December 1720 – April 4, 1806), he was an excellent dramatist of 18th century .
• Luigi Nono (29 January 1924 - 8 May 1990) , He became a leading composer of instrumental and electronic music.
• Carlo Scarpa (June 2, 1906 - 1978, Sendai, Japan), was an architect with a profound understanding of materials.
• Sebastian Cabot (c. 1484 – 1557, or soon after), was an explorer.
• Marco Polo (September 15 - 1254 January 8, 1324) was a trader and explorer one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China. His travels are written down in Il Milione (The Travels of Marco Polo).
• Tomaso Albinoni (June 8, 1671 - January 17, 1751) was a baroque composer
• Canaletto (October 28, 1697 - April 19, 1768), was a famous artist for his landscapes or vedute of Venice, but not only.
• Sebastiano Venier, (c. 1496 - March 3, 1578) was Doge of Venice from June 11, 1577 to 1578.

Foreign words of Venetian origin

• arsenal, ciao, ghetto, gondola, lazaret, lagoon, lido, quarantine, Montenegro.
• "Venezuela" means "little Venice".

See also

• Venice Film Festival
• Venice Biennale
• List of painters and architects of Venice
• List of architecture monuments of Venice
• Veneti and Venetic language (the ancient spoken language of the region)
• Venetian language (the modern spoken vernacular of the region)
• Venetian glass
• Su e zo per i ponti
• Venezia Mestre Rugby FC - rugby team

Twinnings

• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994)
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Suzhou, China (1980)
• Nürnberg, Germany (1999)
• Istanbul, Turkey (1993)
• Kedke, Greece (2000)
• Qingdao, China (2001)
• Thessaloniki, Greece (2003)
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States (2007)

Cooperation agreements

Cooperation agreement between the City of Venice and the City of Thessaloniki

Cooperation agreement between the Cities of Nuremberg and Venice, signed on September 25, 1999

Co-operation Protocol signed by the Cities of Istanbul and Venice on March the 4th 1993, within the framework of the Istanbul Declaration (1991).

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.

Establishment of the Science and Technology Partnership Cities Between Qingdao and Venice

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Scholarship

• Bosio, Luciano. Le origini di Venezia. Novara: Istituto Geografico De Agostini. 
• Chambers, D.S. (1970). The Imperial Age of Venice, 1380-1580. London: Thames & Hudson. The best brief introduction in English, still completely reliable.
• Contarini, Gasparo (1599). The Commonwealth and Gouernment of Venice. Lewes Lewkenor, trsl. London: "Imprinted by I. Windet for E. Mattes." The most important contemporary account of Venice's governance during the time of its blossoming. Also available in various reprint editions.
• Drechsler, Wolfgang (2002). "Venice Misappropriated." Trames 6(2), pp. 192-201. A scathing review of Martin & Romano 2000; also a good summary on the most recent economic and political thought on Venice. For more balanced, less tendentious, and scholarly reviews of the Martin-Romano anthology, see "The Historical Journal" (2003) "Rivista Storica Italiana" (2003).
• Garrett, Martin, "Venice: a Cultural History" (2006). Revised edition of "Venice: a Cultural and Literary Companion" (2001).
• Grubb, James S. (1986). "When Myths Lose Power: Four Decades of Venetian Historiography." Journal of Modern History 58, pp. 43-94. The classic "muckraking" essay on the myths of Venice.
• Lane, Frederic Chapin. Venice: Maritime Republic (1973) (ISBN 0801814456) standard scholarly history; emphasis on economic, political and diplomatic history
• Laven, Mary, "Virgins of Venice: Enclosed Lives and Broken Vows in the Renaissance Convent (2002). The most important study of the life of Renaissance nuns, with much on aristocratic family networks and the life of women more generally.
• Martin, John Jeffries and Dennis Romano (eds). Venice Reconsidered. The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297-1797. (2002) Johns Hopkins UP. The most recent collection on essays, many by prominent scholars, on Venice.
• Muir, Edward (1981). Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princeton UP. The classic of Venetian cultural studies, highly sophisticated.
• Rösch, Gerhard (2000). Venedig. Geschichte einer Seerepublik. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. In German, but the most recent top-level brief history of Venice.

Other

• Morris, Jan (1993), Venice. 3rd revised edition. Faber & Faber, ISBN 0-571-16897-3. A subjective and passionate written introduction to the city and some of its history. Not illustrated.
• Ruskin, John (1853). The Stones of Venice. Abridged edition Links, JG (Ed), Penguin 2001. ISBN 0-14-139065-4. Seminal work on architecture and society
• di Robilant, Andrea (2004). A Venetian Affair. Harper Collins. ISBN 1-84115-542-X Biography of Venetian nobleman and lover, from correspondence in the 1750s.

External links

• Official Site of the City of Venice
• Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area
• Travel guide to Venice, Italy from Wikitravel
• Musei Civici Veneziani
• Saint Mark Church
• Museum Guggenheim
• La Biennale
• Foundation Cini
• Palaces of Venice
• Satellite image from Google Maps
• Venice's Map
• Venice: A bridge a street - Venice of the Venetians
• Photos
• Venice Virtual Walk
• (English) (Italian) Burano - The pearl of Venice Lagoon

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