...ting floods in 1966, an international effort to preserve historic Venice as coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, and many structures ere renovated and preserved. Flooding has occurred throughout the history of the city it is caused hen high tides combine ith storm inds, and has been combatted ith experiments using mechanical barriers. The sinkage of buildings and other structures, caused by the drainage of underground aquifers, has been addressed by limits on groundater usage and the construction of an aqueduct from the Alps nearby.Venetian Canal, ItalyVenice is one of Italys most popular tourist attractions as ell as a major port on the Adriatic Sea. Built on more than 100 islands, the city is knon for its canals, hich substitute for streets in many areas. Venetians use gondolas, long, narro, flat-bottomed boats propelled by standing navigators using a single oar, to travel along the canals.Economy The basis of the Venetian economy is tourism along ith the beauty of the architecture and canals and the many art and cultural attractions, there are numerous film festivals and other events throughout the year that attract visitors. The city is also famous for its glassare, mirrors, and beads, most of hich are manufactured on the nearby island of Murano. Venetian lace, made chiefly on the island of Burano, is also popular. On the mainland, in Mestre and Marghera, are shipbuilding facilities and many industrial plants, including steelorks, foundries, and chemical factories. Since orld ar II, many Venetians have moved to these areas seeking jobs and housing. The Marghera port, hich handles most of the areas seagoing traffic, is reached by a channel that is an extension of the Giudecca Canal.Points of Interest Venice is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the orld. The city buildings and decorations, from Byzantine to Renaissance styles, sho great artistic achievement. The orks of the Venetian school are represented throughout Venetian palaces, public buildings, and churches.The centre and most frequented part of the city is St Marks Square. At the eastern end are St Marks Cathedral and the Doges Palace Palazzo Ducale, the to most important and imposing structures in Venice. The cathedralbegun about 828, restored after a fire in 976, and rebuilt beteen 1047 and about 1071is an outstanding example of Byzantine architecture. The palacebegun about 814, destroyed four times by fire, and each time rebuilt on a more magnificent scaleis a remarkable building in Italian Gothic ith some early Renaissance elements. The northern side of the piazza is occupied by the Procuratie Vecchie 1496 and the southern side by the Procuratie Nuove 1584, both in Italian Renaissance style. During the time of the Venetian republic these buildings ere the residences of the nine procurators, or magistrates, from among hom the doge, or chief magistrate, as usually selected.Along the to palaces and their extension, the Atrio or Fabbrica Nuova 1810, extend arcades ith cafs and shops. Near the Doges Palace stand to famous granite columns erected in 1180, one bearing the inged lion of St Mark and the other St Theodore of Studium on a crocodile. The most conspicuous feature of the city is the campanile, or bell toer, of St Mark, hich is about 91 m 300 ft high it as built beteen 874 and 1150 and rebuilt after it collapsed in 1902.At the back of the Doges Palace is the famous Bridge of Sighs, hich connects the palace ith public prisons and as the route by hich prisoners ere taken to and from the judgment hall. The most famous of the three bridges spanning the Grand Canal is the Rialto 1588, lined ith a double ro of shops. The Grand Canal, the principal traffic artery of Venice, is lined ith old palaces of the Venetian aristocracy, among hich are many structures of great historical and architectural value. Farther north, near the lagoon, is the 15th-century church of San Giovanni in Bragora, a domed and columned edifice in Italian Gothic style and formerly the funeral church of the doges. In its vicinity is the greatest monument in Venice, the 15th-century equestrian statue of the Venetian general Bartolomeo Colleoni, the ork of the Florentine artist Andrea del Verrocchio. Nearby is the site of the Arsenal, a former centre of shipbuilding, and public gardens. Islands extend to the east in the direction of the Lido, an island reef outside the lagoon that is famous as a bathing beach and holiday resort. Great museums, such as the Ca dOro located in a Gothic palace on the Grand Canal, and historic churches are found throughout the city. The Libreria Vecchia Old Library contains about 13,000 manuscripts and more than 800,000 books, some of immense value. The University of Venice as founded in 1868.History The area around Venice as inhabited in ancient times by the Veneti. According to tradition, the city as founded in AD 452, hen the inhabitants of Aquileia, Padua, and other northern Italian cities took refuge on the islands of the lagoon from the Teutonic tribes that invaded Italy during the 5th century. They established their on government, hich as headed by tribunes for each of the 12 principal islands. Although nominally part of the Eastern Roman Empire, Venice as virtually autonomous. In 697 the Venetians organized Venice as a republic under an elected doge. Internal dissent disturbed the course of government during the folloing century, but the threat of foreign invasion united the Venetians. Attacks by Saracens in 836 and by the Hungarians in 900 ere successfully repulsed. In 991 Venice signed a commercial treaty ith the Saracens, initiating the Venetian policy of trading ith the Muslims rather than fighting them. The Crusades and the resulting development of trade ith Asia led to the establishment of Venice as the greatest commercial centre for trade ith the East. The republic profited greatly from the partition of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 and became politically the strongest European poer in the Mediterranean. The groth of a ealthy aristocracy gave rise to an attempt by the nobles to acquire political dominance, and, although nominally a republic, Venice became a rigid oligarchy by the end of the 13th century. In the 13th and 14th centuries Venice as involved in a series of ars ith Genoa, its chief commercial rival. In the ar of 1378-1381, Genoa as compelled to acknoledge Venetian supremacy. ars of conquest enabled Venice to acquire neighbouring territories, and by the late 15th century the city-state as the leading maritime poer in the Christian orld.The beginning of Turkish invasions in the middle of the 15th century marked the decline of Venetian supremacy. Thereafter, faced ith attacks by foreign invaders and other Italian states, its poer aned, and the discovery of a sea route to the Indies around the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama in 1497-1498 accelerated the decline. In 1508 the Holy Roman Empire, the P...
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