UNIQUE CITY
MAY 6, 2023
Venice : The Beautiful Water World
As the city has the most unique transportation in the world, we can call Venice as The Beautiful Water World
OVERVIEW
Venice (Italian: Venezia) is the capital of the Veneto region and the Province of Venice in Italy. The city has an area of 412 km². As of 2020, around 258,685 people live in Greater Venice or Comune di Venezia, with 55,000 living in Venice’s historic lagoon area (centro storico), the rest on the mainland (terraferma).
Mainland Venice is made up of 5 boroughs: Mestre-Carpenedo, Marghera, Chirignago-Zelarino and Favaro Veneto. Mestre is the most densely populated urban center on the mainland. There are several bus routes and two Translohr tram lines.
Several bus routes and one of the tram lines link the mainland to Piazzale Roma, Venice’s main bus station via the Ponte della Libertà, the bridge connecting the mainland to the chain of islands in Venice’s historic center.
TRANSPORTATION
Venice is a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural center, and has been repeatedly named the most beautiful city in the world. This city of Venice has waterways to move from one place to another with the help of gondola transportation.
Gondola is a watercraft that is often used as a means of transportation to bring tourists around through the beautiful city of Venice. Gondola usually sails to the small canals in the city of Venice and past the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge.
There are about 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice. Many of the gondolas are ornately decorated, topped with velvet chairs or Persian rugs. At the front of each gondola is a large piece of metal called fèro (iron). Apart from the gondola, there is another traditional boat called the sandolo, but this sandolo is not as well known as the gondola.
The gondola is made of 280 pieces of wood consisting of 8 types of wood, namely fir, oak, cherry, walnut, elm, mahogany, larch, and limedan. The left side of the gondola is made longer than the right side to balance the weight of the gondolier
Public transportation in the lagoon area consists of water buses (vaporetti) that ply routes along the Grand Canal and between islands. Private motorized water taxi. There are also traghetti, passenger ferries that cross the Grand Canal at points where there are no passable bridges. Gondolas can be rented by tourists every hour.
BRIEF HISTORY
The city was founded by residents of the greater Veneto region as a refuge from barbarian invasions, when the Western Roman Empire fell. During the Middle Ages, Venice slowly developed into an important commercial city. Around 1000 AD the Republic of Venice began to establish an empire in the eastern Mediterranean that lasted until 1797, when it was annexed by Napoleonic France.
In 1254, Marco Polo was born in Venice, he was a famous merchant and world explorer. His four years of traveling to Asia succeeded in influencing major trade in Europe and East India.
Venice is built on an archipelago consisting of 118 islands in a 550 km2 shallow lagoon, connected by 400 bridges through 177 canals. In the 19th century, a road to the mainland opened the rail link to Venice. The adjoining Ponte della Libertà street and terminal parking facilities on Tronchetto island and Piazzale Roma were built in the 20th century.
TOURISM
Today, Venice’s economy is primarily dependent on tourism, shipbuilding (especially in Mestre and Porto Marghera), services, trade, and industrial exports. Venetian glass production in Murano and lace production in Burano are also very important to the Venetian economy.
One of the most famous tourist spot is Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark’s Square. It is the most famous place in Venice and is home to the Basilica of St. Mark’s and the magnificent Palazzo Ducale.
Visitors can also visit Ca’ d’Oro, a Venetian palazzo famous for its collection of 15th-century Venetian art. Apart from that, Venice is also famous for its rich arts and culture. There are many museums and art galleries scattered throughout the city, including the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Visitors can also enjoy classical music performances at Teatro La Fenice or enjoy performing arts at Teatro Goldoni.
With mostly water surrounding all, the city is heavily dependent on the cruise ship business. The Venice Cruise Committee estimates that cruise passengers spend more than 150 million euros (US$193 million) annually in the city, according to a 2015 report.
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