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Venice (city)
Venice (city)
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 and the Doges\' Palace are close by, and the Merceria, the chief shopping street of Venice, joins the square on its north side.', copy:'(Image © Grant Faint/Getty Images)'});)
 using a single oar. During the Renaissance period there were an estimated 15,000 gondolas on the canals of Venice; today there are only about 350.', copy:'(Image © Corel)'});)
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 is at the centre of Venice. It contains the 11th-century cathedral of St Mark, who is the patron saint of the city. This five-domed Byzantine cathedral is decorated with marble and mosaics, and four Greek bronze horses dating from the 3rd or 4th century. Sculptures of lions, the symbol of St Mark, are to be found in the square and on its buildings.', copy:'(Image © Garret Nagle)'});)
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, Venice, Italy. The tower was designed by Italian architect Mauro Codussi and built 1496–99. The winged lion represents St Mark, the patron saint of Venice.', copy:'(Image © Corel)'});)
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. Fantastic costumes and masks are part of the festivity, which takes its name from the Latin meaning to ‘remove meat’, since meat was forbidden during Lent.', copy:'(Image © Francisco Hidalgo/Getty Images)'});)
, the Doge\'s Palace, and St Mark\'s Basilica. However, Venice is at risk from rising sea levels, resulting partly from global warming, and floods are increasingly common.', copy:'(Image © Garret Nagle)'});)
, Venice, Italy. Venice was built on a series of small islands, in a low-lying lagoon. The preferred method of transport is by boat: the traditional gondola or the <i>vaporetto</i> (water bus).', copy:'(Image © Garret Nagle)'});)
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City, port, and naval base on the northeast coast of Italy; population (2001 est) 266,200. It is the capital of the Veneto region. The old city is built on piles on low-lying islands in a salt-water lagoon, sheltered from the Adriatic Sea by the Lido and other small strips of land. There are about 150 canals crossed by some 400 bridges. Apart from tourism, industries include glass, jewellery, textiles, and lace.
History
In 1991, archaeologist Ernesto Canal established that the city was founded by the Romans in the 1st century; it was previously thought to have been founded by mainlanders fleeing from the Barbarians in 421. Venice became a wealthy independent trading republic in the 10th century and was also renowned as a centre of early publishing; 15% of all printed books before 1500 were printed in Venice. It was governed by an aristocratic oligarchy, the Council of Ten, and a senate, which appointed the doge (697–1797). By the beginning of the 14th century, the Council of Ten had replaced the general citizenry as an electorate in the election of the doges, and had become restricted to an oligarchy. Making use of a formidable secret police, the great council became increasing powerful while the doge became a figurehead.
In 1204 the doge, Enrico Dandolo, led the host of the Fourth Crusade in storming Constantinople. The Crusades did much to develop Venice's trade with the Near East and Asia, and the influence of Byzantium characterized much of Venetian art and architecture, clearly visible in St Mark's Church (rebuilt 1063–73) in the city's main square. During the 15th century the city grew into the most powerful of the Italian states and Europe's leading sea power, trading with the Far East, and distributing its imports throughout western Europe. Colonies and factories were founded in the Morea, the Peleponnese of southern Greece; at Constantinople (modern Istanbul); and in many of the coastal towns of Syria. By the mid-15th century the Venetian Empire stretched to the Alps and included Crete. It also ruled Istria and Dalmatia, Ravenna, and parts of Lombardy and Apulia.
In the latter half of the 15th century Venice's decline began; the chief causes were the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, the discovery of America, the Cape route around Africa, and the rise of the great European powers and their dominance in Italy. Venice helped defeat the Ottoman Empire in the naval Battle of Lepanto (1571) but the republic was overthrown by Napoleon I in 1797. It passed to Austria by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) and became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.
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