Venice History, Italy

History states that the city Venice was built way back in AD 452, when Italy was invaded by Teutonic tribes. With this invasion, all the people of north Italy were forced to take cover on the many islands of its lagoon.

It was later in the year AD 697 that a state was formed under the leadership of its chosen leaders, the Doges. With this, Venice slowly grew into a commercial hub. It was with the Venetian conquer of Constantinople and Cyprus that Venice grew into one of the most successful trade points in Europe. This was because this was when Venice started gaining control over the main trade routes of the Mediterranean.

Once the boundaries of Venice reached its mainland to include cities like Padova, Verona, Vicenza and Friuli, Venice came to be known as the ‘Queen of the Adriatic’. With their advancements in trade, the city and wealth of Venice started growing. Monopolies were started by merchants using crusades as their means of increasing trading power.

Growth of architecture in Venice

Rival traders of Constantinople were attacked by Crusaders in barter for transport to the Middle East. With the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indies, the Venetian merchants slowly lost their spices monopoly. However while Venice started towards the end of its trading status, the city started growing in its architecture and painting art.

Till the advent of the Renaissance, Venice developed its own architectural characteristics with the coloring of the city with red brick, marble and other architectural products they collected from other places of Italy and outside travel.

The typical Gothic and Roman-Byzantium style of architecture Venice changed with the advent of Renaissance. The most famous architect of this period was Jacopo Sansovino who created his mark on the city with the help of his pupils, before the start of the Baroque style of architecture of the Renaissance period. It is this Baroque style of architecture that is predominantly seen in Venice today and it was during the Renaissance that Venice grew the most in terms of splendor and power.

When Venice once again became a part of Italy

However with the Ottoman Turks acquiring Constantinople in the 15th Century, the Venice domination in the city started declining. Austria next ruled Venice in the year 1797, after which Napoleon I invaded and ruled Venice for a span of 9 years from 1805 to 1814.

It was only in the year 1866 that Venice finally returned under Italian jurisdiction. The present Venice lives on its tourists and the many local and international events organized here like the film festival of Venice.

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• Rent a boat for the channels in Venice
  review by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  A nice city, showing you a huge block of history in the city center, like the palace of the Doge, the former ruler of Venice. Also the markus place offers a nice view. The nice and small walkways are also nice to look at. You can go for shopping there, but be aware of the many people, selling...
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  review by MadSuh posted more then 30 days ago
  We got up at 4:30am after just about 4 hours of sleep. Not really enough to go on a long trip, but who cares, 2 drivers can easily take turns so it's not much of a torture. Once we got up, I quickly searched for a decent deal on some Venice hotel for about half the normal price due to some last...

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• Teatro La Fenice
  travel tip by Elza posted more then 30 days ago
  The theater of the Phoenix has truly lived up to its reputation, rising from the ashes and becoming one of the prestigious opera houses in Venice. The Teatro La Fenice has been burned down several times, and renovated and reopened in...
• Cafe Florian
  travel tip by ainoChan posted more then 30 days ago
  It may be the most expensive cafes in Venice, but Cafe Florian is history and a work of art in itself. It has been preserved almost like a museum, being Europe's oldest cafe, opened in 1720 and has been the visiting place of famous...
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