Nothing Blind About the Love of All Things Venetian

Venice: The very name instantly conjures up romantic images of historic buildings and squares, punts gently floating down the many canals between stone houses and under elegantly bridges. Those who can remember the Cornetto advert may think of a man in a straw boater singing about ice creams. Everything about it shouts "Italy".

Yet in reality it isn't quite like that. The city certainly has its canals and history, elegance and charm. But it also has a slight sense of being a bit different, even superior to the rest of Italy. Or, to put it bluntly, according to the Lonely Planet, other Italians think the city is stuck-up.

This issue is likely to be of much greater importance to Italians than the average visitor staying in cheap hotels in the city, which means those heading over there can concentrate on the wonders of the natural and man-made environment.

Even so, in such an evidently historic city it is worth considering the history. Explanations of Venice's foundation vary between Troy and Celtic tribes, but by 49BC it was part of the Roman Empire. From the beginning, perched as it was on a series of islands in an Adriatic lagoon, Venice has been a seafaring city and thus, like any place having such a close relationship to the sea, its life and times have been caught up in maritime trade, conquest and war.

Down the centuries, this has seen the city invaded and conquered by the Huns as the Roman Empire crumbled, followed by the Byzantines, Lombards (who established the office of Doge, or Duke, in the 8th century, an office which ran the city state for a millennium) and then the Franks. Ultimately the city was left as a Duchy on its own, existing in the Byzantine field of influence.

As a port, however, Venice was a key launch point for the crusades in the middle ages, while developing rivalries that often led to war with other city states such as Genoa in the 13th and 14th centuries. Ultimately, however, Venice won these and became the controlling power in the Adriatic.

Powerful as it became with its little empire, including Bergamo, Brescia and Cyprus, in the 17th and 18th centuries the city declined, its navy obsolete and the city unable to resist Napoleonic invasion. After Napoleon's defeat the city fell into Austrian hands before finally becoming part of the united Italy where it has remained ever since.

Yet even with all this external history, visitors to the city will see the internal development of Venice as the most important aspect. For all the boats it put to sea, nothing is more notable than the way the city's streets are not made of tarmac but water and filled not with cars but with boats, even down to buses, ambulances and goods delivery vehicles. Some of the canals have been filled in to make more pedestrianised areas - this is a hugely walkable city - but it remains a city of water. It is also fairly small, with a population in the municipality of 270,000. This is worth noting when a far larger city like Birmingham lays grandiose claims to having more canals than Venice. In any case, industrial urban England is a world away from the magnificent Grand Canal, winding round the islands in a broad channel between gorgeous buildings.

The water also provides numerous aquatic events with deep historic roots. Among these are the many regattas, such as July's Festa del Redentore, or the Hundred Sails Regatta. Another, held in May, rotates around the four historic maritime republics of Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi as galleons representing each republic race against each other. Such spectaculars make a change from a leisurely gondola ride through the narrow canals.

Onland has plenty of festivals too, with many lively events that so often accompany religious holidays in southern Europe. Carnevale, held in February, is the time when costumes and masks in the run up to Ash Wednesday are the order of the day. It's less fattening than pancakes.

Then there are the buildings. Built on wooden piles and the subject of long term concern that the city is sinking into the lagoon, the Basilica di San Marco provides one of the best examples of Byzantine architecture, while the Doge's Palace is an imposing structure sat on the banks of the Grand Canal. The Bridge of Sighs, close to the palace, marks the last view of the city prisoners had before they were incarcerated, while the Rialto Bridge, which crosses the Grand Canal, is widely regarded as the most picturesque bridge and a true icon of the city.

Above all, there is St Mark's Square, a key focal point in the city, between the Doge's place, the Basilica and the Campanile (bell tower). This is the romantic heart of a truly romantic city, a place where no car ever drives and where history comes alive.

Venice also has plenty of associated islands, its own culinary traditions and dialect. In short, it is a city that, for all its saturation with tourism, still retains the same waterside charm it ever had. Few cities on Earth can match its romance. None can match its setting.

This article is provided by Hotels Hotels Hotels suppliers of cheap hotels in Venice

Updated: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:56:54

Related Links:
Venice Tourist Board
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