64 Venice The Floating City

CHAPTER 1 The History of Venice BORN OUT OF WAR, RAISED ON TRADE, VENICE HAS BEEN A EUROPEAN JEWEL FOR 1500 YEARS. The story of Venice started when the Germans and the Huns attacked the Roman Empire. Many people ran away from their homes. Some came to a lagoon along the Adriatic coast that contained 118 islands. They began building homes and businesses. In 421 CE the floating city of Venice was born.

Venice became politically and economically important. Ships doing business between Europe and the Far East often stopped at Venice. It quickly became a busy port and before long, Venice controlled most international trade. By the late 13th century, it was the richest city in Europe. Venice is famous for art. The city had many rich people, powerful families, politicians, and church leaders. They built palaces, public areas, and churches. They paid the best artists, such as Titian and Tintoretto, to decorate their buildings. Venice is also famous for music. The composer Vivaldi was born there. Marco Polo (1254—1324) also came from Venice. He was one of the first Europeans to go to Mongolia and China. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo, was popular all around Europe. Other cities and countries began to trade with the Far East. As a result of this new competition, Venice soon no longer controlled international trade, and it began to lose its economic power.

CHAPTER 2 The Streets of Venice VENICE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THE WORLD. Venice receives about 50,000 visitors a day Some want to experience the city's famous art, music, and architecture. Others love Venice's modern attractions: fashionable hotels, delicious food, and colorful festivals. Venice's historical center is small not much more than five square kilometers. The first thing that visitors notice is that there are no buses or cars. In fact, it is the largest traffic-free city in Europe. To get around, tourists must choose between traveling on foot or on the water, just like people had to do centuries ago.

People who decide to walk may get lost as they try to find their way around the maze of narrow streets. They might find themselves on a street with no way out, or they might want to cross a canal but find that there is no bridge. Despite being small, Venice can be very tiring to get around on foot. One of the most amazing things about Venice is the way it was built. The lagoon is not very deep. Millions of pieces of wood, called piles, were pushed into the ground under the water. A platform sits on top of these piles, and that is the floor for all the architectural wonders of Venice. Most of the original piles are still there, because wood isn't destroyed by salt water as it is by air. It becomes hard like stone. Tourists in Venice today are sleeping, eating, and walking on top of pieces of wood from the 5th century.

People who choose to travel by boat have many choices and many routes they can follow. The Grand Canal is the busiest and biggest of these routes. Just over three kilometers long, it crosses the city centre in the shape of a backward letter S. It is between 30 and 70 meters wide, with its widest point next to the Piazza San Marco (St. Square). The other Venetian canals are quite small in comparison. The Grand Canal is like the main street of other cities, except it has almost no sidewalks. The best way to see the front of the beautiful buildings along the Grand Canal is from a boat.

Boats in Venice are like buses in other cities. The bigger boats are called vaporetti, and most of them have seats inside and outside. They can be very slow, however, because they make frequent stops to let passengers on and off. Another possibility is to take a water taxi. This way you can travel quickly and directly to your destination. But have your wallet ready— they can be expensive!