| At the fall of the Roman Empire barbarian hordes descended from the north of Europe, bringing death and destruction. The inhabitants of the Venetian cities, to escape from the ferocity of the Huns and Vandals, took refuge in the islands of the Adriatic lagoon: thus it was that around 450 AD Venice Italy was born, the "city of islands," subjected to Byzantine influence and governed by a duke, or Doge, elected by a popular assembly. Wise use of diplomacy and arms soon led to Venice taking control of the coasts of Istria, Dalmatia and Puglia and to becoming a true power, increasingly independent of Byzantium.
The splendor of what came to be called the "Serenissima" Republic, however, only began in 1202, when the Doge Enrico Dandolo furnished important help to the knights of the fourth Crusade in the conquest of Constantinople. From the division of the Byzantine spoils, the Serenissima gained immense riches, allowing it to expand its own commercial horizons: its ships dominated the Mediterranean as far as the Middle East and returned to the lagoons laden with precious merchandise not found in Europe.
Mistery and charm, beauty and atmosphere Venice reached the heights of its power at the beginning of the fifteenth century, after having defeated the Duke of Milan and having conquered many cities of northeastern Italy, becoming along with Milan and Florence one of the principal powers of the Italian peninsula. From this time began the slow but inexorable descending spiral of the Serenissima. From the Turks conquered the Venetian colonies in the Middle East one by one, while at the end of the century the Portuguese, circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope, opened a new route to the Indies, taking from the Venetians commercial primacy in those areas.
The final blazing military victory was that of Lepanto, in 1571, against the Turkish fleet. Then the descent became unstoppable. In 1797 Venice lost its independence. It was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte who successively ceded it to the Austrians. The Serenissima Republic didn't exist any more. Only seventy years later, in 1866, the Venetian territories would become part of the emerging Kingdom of Italy.
Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance are the principal reference points for the artistic development of Venice. The Byzantine style characterized the first centuries of the city. Marbles and columns arrived from the Middle East at the lagoon city, where projects for the construction of the first great buildings were directed by masters from the East and from Ravenna. The Basilica of San Marco is a masterpiece of Romanesque-Byzantine style, the center of Venetian life for all times.
Today few buildings remain from that period and their locations demonstrate clearly the early lines of the city’s development: from San Marco to Rialto and, along the borders of the Grand Canal, from San Zan Degolà to San Polo. Beginning in the second half of the thirteenth century the Gothic style affirmed itself in Venice, as it did in the rest of Italy's cities. Among its most vivid testimonies are the Doge’s Palace and the Ca' d'Oro (House of Gold). In the sixteenth century the Renaissance style left a strong imprint (Rialto Bridge), followed by Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical. Throughout the city the testimonies of great Venetian masters are revealed in paintings from the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries..
By car: Venice is accessible by car via the A4 highway (Turin-Milan-Trieste). At Mestre the highway connects with a superhighway 11 kilometers in length (via "Ponte della Libertà," Liberty Bridge), that one traverses to reach the lagoon. With the car, however, one cannot go beyond Piazzale Roma, where there is pay parking. Another way of reaching Venice is to leave the car in the Mestre area and use public buses, which guarantee excellent connections with Piazzale Roma.
By plane: The airport of Venice/Tessera, the "Marco Polo," is located 13 kilometers from the city and is served by most large international airlines.
By train: The Venice train station is called Santa Lucia and is located at the S. Lucia Quay, near the final stretch of the Grand Canal. It is served daily by Intercity and Eurocity trains. The Mestre station, on terra firma, is found in Piazzale Favretti.
In Venice one can take a very normal taxi (Radio Taxi's number is 041/ 5237774) or one can rent a car. The only public means available for traveling in the center, however, are the canals: via water taxis (in service 24 hours out of 24), vaporetti, and traditional gondolas. The vaporetti and passenger-bearing speedboats can traverse only the largest canals, including the Grand Canal. Boats and gondolas, though, can insinuate themselves into the narrowest waterways and are advised for those who want to preserve a particularly romantic memory of the city. Connections with the Lido (beach) and nearby islands are also guaranteed.
The Biennale (Biannual) Art Show An international exposition of art that takes place every two years between June and October (the next appointment is for 2001). Works and displays by artists from around the world are exposed in a spacious site at the end of the Riva dei 7 Martiri and in the most important palaces of the city. The headquarters of the Biennale Association is in the Ca’ Giustinian.
Carnival Every year in February the farcical eighteenth-century Carnival comes alive in the piazzas and streets of the city. Open-air balls, theater representations and shows of every kind involve all of Venice, which is invaded by thousands of traditional masks. For the occasion, a special propitiatory rite is celebrated: the Venetians construct a dove full of streamers that, attached to a cable, flies through the Piazza San Marco from the Bell Tower to the Clock Tower. On its arrival it breaks open and from the flight of the streamers the Venetians can predict the fortunes of the upcoming year. |
