Venice, the romantic queen of Italy, grew from the destruction of the Goths and was destined to become a romantic and monumental city that distils a sweet decadence. Frozen in time and besieged by tides and tourists, it attempts every day to survive the success and the advance of the sea, which threatens to turn it into a modern-day Atlantis.
A city without streets, also known as La Serenissima, it is made up of over 100 islands joined together by some 400 bridges and is regarded as one of the most unique cities in the world. Cars are banned in the centre, and even the police and the postmen use barges to get about. Its name is closely associated with other such illustrious names as Tintoretto, Bellini, Vivaldi and Marco Polo, while its past is enveloped in silks and imbued with aromas of the most varied spices.
What was once a mighty commercial and seafaring power in the Mediterranean still retains its splendour in the eyes of the visitor, to the point of having been reproduced in a Las Vegas casino, yet it is a giant with feet of clay, standing as it does on a muddy lagoon in northeast Italy.
Venice invites visitors to quell their hurry and let themselves be hypnotised by the eternal lapping of the Adriatic. Who could possibly resist being bewitched by such charm!
The Story:
Although by the start of Christianity the marshy Veneto coastline had already been settled by fishermen and hunters, the true origins of Venice date back to the fifth century, when inhabitants from the hinterland moved to the islands to escape the devastation of the Goths as they cut a swathe to Rome.
The inhabitants subsisted in the salt flats of the Po estuary by fishing and extracting salt. The constructions of that age were simple huts built on piles. In the beginning, Venice enjoyed great independence with regard to its neighbours, thanks to the natural barrier formed by the chain of islands, which prevented cavalry or infantry attack. However, over time, the settlements in this area fell under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.
Constantinople granted Venice privileges because it was an important trading point between East and West. When Charlemagne and the Byzantine emperor signed the Treaty of Aquisgrán, the city’s influence was greatly reduced, a fact which as is borne out when in 828 the Venetians stole the body of Saint Mark from Alexandria, whom they named the patron saint of the city, replacing Saint Theodore. Venice saw its power greatly increase, thanks to the Crusades, particularly the fourth, in 1204, when the Venetians used the Christians as mercenaries to destroy Constantinople.
After this victory, Venice was assured control of trade and became one of the most important powers of the age. Unlike most of the Mediterranean, Venice had a highly organised administration that was governed by the Doge, an elected leader whose powers were clearly set out in the Constitution. Venetian naval supremacy in the Middle Ages was based on the trireme, a swift and easy-to-handle ship that would sink enemy craft with its pointed prow and bow cannon.
A drum on the stern beat out the rhythm to synchronise the dozens of oarsmen.
The Columbus setback
Venice had to maintain an exhausting struggle against the Ottoman Empire, which had become a world power. Although initially Venetian merchants kept their privileges awarded by the Byzantines, war was inevitable due to Ottoman terrestrial expansion after 1470.
The invasion policy on the Italian Peninsula brought the Venetians into conflict with the Pope, who summoned the League of Cambrai in 1508. This included Louis XII of France, Emperor Maximilian I of Austria and Ferdinand II of Aragon, and the struggle culminated in the crushing Venetian defeat in May 1509 at the battle of Agnadello, which stopped all Venetian attempts at expansion on the Italian Peninsula forever. The Republic held on to its independence through territorial cessions to Spain and Milan, and because its destruction meant the elimination of a potential ally against the Ottoman Empire.
Despite these serious setbacks, at the end of the fifteenth century Venice still had 180,000 inhabitants and was the second most populated city in Europe, surpassed only by Paris. In 1453, Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks and the Venetians lost numerous possessions. With Christopher Columbus’ arrival in America in 1492 and the new sea route to the Indies in 1500, the Adriatic enclave began to lose its monopoly on trade.
In the centuries that followed, the alliance between Spain and Portugal, the commercial expansion of Genoa and defeats to the Ottomans weakened the Venetian Republic even further, although it still managed to maintain its independence until the arrival of Napoleon in 1797.
This milestone marks the end of an era of glorious decadence, during which the Venetian aristocracy devoted itself to squandering its fortune on sumptuous parties and games of chance, maintaining itself as a closed community, which prevented the necessary social rise of the bourgeoisie. Later, with the Treaty of Campoformio, Napoleon delivered the city to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its possessions were divided up. Venice became part of the Kingdom of Italy following the Third War of Independence in 1866.
Today Venice is one of the better place in the world to promise love.
Portofino World, a world apart.
