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.
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 12 May 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.
Venice, the historical center, is composed of 118 small islands and is divided into six areas called sestieri: Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Marco (including San Giorgio Maggiore island) and Castello (including the islands 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 and about 150 kilometers from Bologna.
TRANSPORT: You can get to Venice by plane, arriving at Marco Polo Airport, in Mestre, or at Antonio Canova Airport, near Treviso. If you get to Venice by train, then the last stop will be in Venezia Santa Lucia train 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) that are crossing the lagoon.
LANDMARKS: What can you find in Venice? Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale), Bell tower of St. Mark (Campanile di San Marco), Saint Mark's Basilica (Basilica di San Marco), Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), and those only in the St. Mark's Square. 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!
MORE INFO: Venice Airport | Treviso Airport | Train Schedule | Waterbus routes | Waterbus Schedule | Hotels in Venice | Hotels in Lido di Venezia | Hotels in Mestre
Top 10 cathedrals in Italy with the most beautiful facadesA cathedral is the main church of a diocese, which houses the seat of the bishop. The Italian Duomo refers to the principal church of a town, and the Duomo of a city may or may not be a cathedral. There are cities where the principal church is not the cathedral, and vice versa, as it happens, for example, in Bologna. Most of the time, however, these two terms overlap, meaning the same thing. The facade is the most important architectural feature Read more […]
The curse of Palazzo DarioA series of legends about the cursed aura that Palazzo Dario is bearing have been born over time. Many of the stories seem to repeat the same myth, others seem to contain a certain kernel of truth and others, more fanciful, seem just scenarios for a horror movie. From a paranormal perspective, the palace can be seen as an entity. Also called the House that Kills, it did not took too much care of his tenants over time, who seemed to have Read more […]