HISTORY: For Venice, history began somewhere in the dawn of our era, in the sound of swords and incandescent lights, when the great barbaric invasions touched the territory of the Western Roman Empire. Starting with the 9th century, Venice developed into a city-state, later known as the Republic of Venice, which has imposed its power in the region until the end of the 17th century. Read More [...]
During the 18th century, Venice became one of the most elegant cities in Europe, but lost its independence when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the northern Italy on May 12, 1797. After Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, Venice became Austrian territory. In 1866, after the War of Independence, Venice became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy.
GEOGRAPHY: Venice is, today, the capital of the Veneto region, with 50,000 people living in the historical center of the city, from a total of about 265,000 people in the metropolitan area, including here the mainland towns of Mestre and Marghera and the islands of Murano, Burano, Giudecca and Lido.
The historical center of Venice is composed of 118 small islands, and is divided into six areas called sestieri: Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro (including the island of Giudecca), Santa Croce, San Marco (including the San Giorgio Maggiore island), and Castello (including the islands of San Pietro di Castello and Sant'Elena).
Venice is located about 42 kilometers away from Padua, 68 kilometers away from Vicenza, 120 kilometers away from Verona, about 150 kilometers from Bologna, 256 kilometers from Florence, 275 kilometers from Milan and 476 kilometers from Rome.
TRANSPORT: You can get to Venice by plane, arriving at the Marco Polo Airport, in Mestre, or at the Antonio Canova Airport, near Treviso. If you get to Venice by train, then the last stop will be the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, on the main island. By car, you will only get to Piazzale Roma, a large parking lot at the entrance to the city.
The transport in Venice is mainly on foot or on water, with one of the many vaporetti (waterbuses) which crosses the lagoon, managed by the public transport company Actv. In Mestre, Chioggia, and on the islands of Lido and Pellestrina, you can also travel by bus.
LANDMARKS: What can you find in Venice? The Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale), the St. Mark's Bell Tower (Campanile di San Marco), the St. Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco), the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), and those only in the St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). Also, you don’t want to miss the Rialto Bridge, the Correr Museum, the Jewish Ghetto of Venice... Trust us! You don’t want to miss a thing!
EVENTS: The most important event in Venice is, of course, the Carnival of Venice, which takes places every year in January or February. Other important events are Festa della Sensa, on the Ascension Day, Vogalonga, in the second half of May, Festa del Redentore, in the third weekend of July, Regata Storica, on the first Sunday of September, and, every two years, the Venice International Art Exhibition, or simply, the Venice Biennale.
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