Italy L'Italia

VENICE

VENEZIA

Venice is situated in the north-east of Italy and the Adriatic coast. It is also the capital of the Veneto region and the province of Venice. Venice is a lagoon city. The buildings of Venice are built on wooden piles. In the lagoon, there are 117 small islands of different sizes. They all are belonging to Venice, are located between the mouths of the Brenta and Piave and are often interlinked with bridges.

The five major islands of Venice are: Venice, with 5.17 sq. km, Sant Erasmo with 3.26 sq. km, Borgo San Giovanni with 2.36 sq. km, Murano with 1.17 sq. km and Chioggia with 0.67 sq. km. Of these islands, for example the island of Murano is very famous with its Murano glass since the early 19th Century. To the main islands include the smaller Burano, Torcello, Vignole and San Michele with its cemetery.

The numerous channels can be crossed with the help of bridges. It is supposed to be 444 bridges in Venice. Channels also serve the transportation of goods. Not all channels are passable. The most widely used channel is the Canal Grande. The most known transport tool and the symbol of Venice is the gondola. Today, it is serving almost only the tourists. Instead, there are now the so-called vaporetti and motor boats. This water buses and water taxis are driving to the islands too.

Venice has nearly 300,000 residents. For the most part, the language Venetian is spoken. Venesi n (Veneziano) is rare. Venice is divided into six districts (Municipalit ); the historic centre, Chirignago, Favaro Veneto, Marghera, Mestre and Zelarino. It bears the nickname La Serenissima. The city is located in the temperate zone. So are the warmest months are July and August and it will be an average of 23 C.

For centuries, Venice was of great political, historical and economic importance. In particular, the port also served as a stopover for goods that are on the way to all kinds of countries, of which the independent (until 1797) Venice benefited. The city was for long periods one of the largest European cities. Today, is also the mussel fishery is common.

The three most important rivers of Venice are Po, Brenta and Piave. Brenta rises southeast of Trento and flows through the Valsugana valley to the east direction. The Piave is a 220 km long river in northern Italy. Even on these rivers depend historic bridges, which repeatedly imitated in other places in the world. The unique atmosphere and the regional style is not to imitate. Venice will always remain one of the biggest attractions for tourists from all over the world. Venice is since 1987 on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.

Venice is not only with these special features famous. This historic city was also the city of Baroque and Renaissance. Many artists like Carpaccio, Tizian, Veronese, Bellini and Giorgione are important representatives. The world-famous Baroque musician Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) also comes from Venice. Art and architecture shape the city. The symbol of Venice is the ancient San Marco in the Byzantine and Gothic style. Many palaces, which are now hotels or museums, and also libraries, churches, Scuola (guild houses), historic public buildings, paintings and monuments, many of opera and theatre as the Teatro La Fenice in Baroque style, numerous fountains, columns and many other buildings can be visited.