The City of Venice

Venice

is

a

unique

artistic

achievement.

The

city

is

built

on

118

small

islands

and

seems

to

float

on

the

waters

of

the

lagoon.

The

influence

of

Venice

on

the

development

of

architecture

and

monumental

arts

has

been

considerable.

Venice

possesses

an

incomparable

series

of

architectural

ensembles

illustrating

the

age

of

its

splendour.

It

presents

a

complete

typology

whose

exemplary

value

goes

hand-in-hand

with

the

outstanding character of an urban setting which had to adapt to the special requirements of the site.

In

this

lagoon

covering

50,000

km2,

nature

and

history

have

been

so

closely

linked

since

the

5th

century

AD

when

Venetian

populations,

to

escape

barbarian

raids,

found

refuge

on

the

sandy

islands

of

Torcello,

Iesolo

and

Malamocco.

These

temporary

settlements

gradually

became

permanent

and

the

initial

refuge

of

the

land-dwelling

peasants

and

fishermen

became

a

maritime

power.

The

small

island

of

Rialto

was

chosen

as

the headquarters of the new city.

In

AD

1000,

Venice

controlled

the

Dalmatian

coast

and

in

1112

a

trading

market

was

founded

in

the

Levantine

port

of

Sidon.

The

year

1204

saw

Venice

allied

with

the

Crusaders

to

capture

Constantinople.

The

abundant

booty

brought

back

on

that

occasion,

including

the

bronzes

horses

of

St

Mark's,

is

only

the

more

spectacular part of the loot from Byzantium that the Doge Enrico Dàndolo shared with his allies.

Under

the

Doge,

a

maritime

empire

of

unequalled

power

extended

over

the

entire

length

of

the

shores

around

the

eastern

Mediterranean,

to

the

islands

of

the

Ionian

Sea

and

to

Crete.

During

the

entire

period

of

the

expansion

of

Venice,

over

the

centuries

when

it

was

obliged

to

defend

its

trading

markets

against

the

commercial

undertakings

of

the

Arabs,

the

Genoese

and

the

Ottoman

Turks,as

well

as

those

of

the

European

monarchs

who

were

envious

of

its

power,

Venice

never

ceased,

in

the

literal

sense

of

the

term,

to

consolidate

its

position

in

the

lagoon.

The

marriage

with

the

sea,

that

sposalizio

that

since

1172

was

symbolized

by

the

ring

of

the

Doge,

who

had

replaced

the

Dux

(elected

for

the

first

time

in

697

by

an

assembly of the people), was never called into question.

In

this

inland

sea

that

has

continuously

been

under

threat,

rises

amid

a

tiny

archipelago

at

the

very

edge

of

the

waves

one

of

the

most

extraordinary

built-up

areas

of

the

Middle

Ages.

From

Torcello

to

the

north

to

Chioggia

to

the

south,

almost

every

small

island

had

its

own

settlement,

town,

fishing

village

and

artisan

village

(Murano).

However,

at

the

heart

of

the

lagoon,

Venice

itself

stood

as

one

of

the

greatest

capitals

in

the

medieval

world.

When

a

group

of

tiny

islands

were

consolidated

and

merged

into

one,

nothing

remained

of

the

primitive

topography

but

what

became

canals,

such

as

the

Giudecca

Canal,

St

Mark's

Canal

and

the

Great

Canal,

and

a

network

of

small

rii

that

are

the

veritable

arteries

of

a

city

on

water.

In

this

unreal

space,

where

there

is

no

notion

of

the

concept

of

terra

firma,

masterpieces

of

one

of

the

most

extraordinary architectural museums on Earth have been accumulated for over 1,000 years