Tourism Venice - Italy

Venice: Tourism information Venice

Venice

Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). The city is included, with Padua (Padova), in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, population 1,600,000. It has the nicknames: "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", and "The City of Light." It is the seat for Education in Europe.
The city stretches across numerous small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers. The population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; the historic city of Venice (Centro storico) inhabitants are around 62,000, while approximately 176,000 people live in Terraferma (literally firm land, it means the extra-lagoon areas), mostly in the large frazione of Mestre or in Marghera and 31,000 live in other islands of the lagoon.
The Venetian Republic was a major sea power and a staging area for the Crusades, as well as a very important centre of commerce (especially the spice trade) and art in the Renaissance.

Sinking of Venice

The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wood piles (under water, in the absence of oxygen, wood does not decay) which penetrate alternating layers of clay and sand. Wood for piles was cut in the most western part of today's Slovenia, resulting in the barren land in a region today called Kras, and in two regions of Croatia, Lika and Gorski kotar. Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. The foundations rest on the piles, and buildings of brick or stone sit above these footings. The buildings are often threatened by flood tides pushing in from the Adriatic between autumn and early spring.
Six hundred years ago, Venetians protected themselves from land-based attacks by diverting all the major rivers flowing into the lagoon and thus preventing sediment from filling the area around the city. This created an ever-deeper lagoon environment.
During the 20th century, when many artesian wells were sunk into the periphery of the lagoon to draw water for local industry, Venice began to subside. It was realised that extraction of the aquifer was the cause. This sinking process has slowed markedly since artesian wells were banned in the 1960s. However, the city is still threatened by more frequent low-level floods (so-called Acqua alta, "high water") that creep to a height of several centimeters over its quays, regularly following certain tides. In many old houses the former staircases used by people to unload goods are now flooded, rendering the former ground floor uninhabitable. Thus, many Venetians resorted to moving up to the upper floors and continuing with their lives.
Some recent studies have suggested that the city is no longer sinking [citation needed], but this is not yet certain; therefore, a state of alert has not been revoked. In May 2003 the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi inaugurated the MOSE project (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), an experimental model for evaluating the performance of inflatable gates; the idea is to lay a series of 79 inflatable pontoons across the sea bed at the three entrances to the lagoon. When tides are predicted to rise above 110 centimetres, the pontoons will be filled with air and block the incoming water from the Adriatic sea. This challenging engineering work is due to be completed by 2011.
Some experts say that the best way to protect Venice is to physically lift the City to a greater height above sea level - by pumping water into the soil underneath the city. This way, some hope, it could rise above sea levels, protecting it for hundreds of years, and eventually the MOSE project may not be necessary (it will, controversially, alter the tidal patterns in the lagoon, damaging some wildlife). A further point about the "lifting" system would be that it would be permanent - the MOSE Project is, by its very nature, a temporary system: it is expected to protect Venice for only 100 years.

Venice in culture, the arts, and fiction

In the 14th century, many young Venetian men began wearing tight-fitting multicoloured hose, the designs on which indicated the Compagnie della Calza ("Trouser Club") to which they belonged. The Senate passed sumptuary laws, but these merely resulted in changes in fashion in order to circumvent the law. Dull garments were worn over colourful ones, which then were cut to show the hidden colours — which resulted in the wide spread of men's "slashed" fashions in the 15th century.
During the 16th century, Venice became one of the most important musical centers of Europe, marked by a characteristic style of composition (the Venetian school) and the development of the Venetian polychoral style under composers such as Adrian Willaert, who worked at San Marco. Venice was the early center of music printing; Ottaviano Petrucci began publishing music almost as soon as this technology was available, and his publishing enterprise helped to attract composers from all over Europe, especially from France and Flanders. By the end of the century, Venice was famous for the splendor of its music, as exemplified in the "colossal style" of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, which used multiple choruses and instrumental groups.
Canvases (the common painting surface) originated in Venice during the early renaissance. These early canvases were generally rough.
Life in 1750s Venice is illustrated by the biography A Venetian Affair, which is based on the prolific love letters between a Venetian nobleman and his illegitimate half-English lover.
A remarkable, and unflattering, portrait of Venetian politics appears in The Bravo, published in 1831 by American novelist James Fennimore Cooper. A bravo is an assassin under contract to the state, typically carrying out his assignments with a stiletto. Cooper's novel depicts Venice as a brutal dictatorship, governed through intrigue and murder, masked by the placid facade of the Repubblica Serenissima (serene republic).

Art Biennal

The Venice Art Biennal stands as one of the most important art events in the world. Site in English and Italian
In 1893 headed by the mayor of Venice, Riccardo Selvatico, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution on 19th April to set up an Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale (biennial exhibition of Italian art), to be inaugurated on 22nd April 1894. [1] Following the outbreak of hostilities during the Second World War, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted in September 1942. The last edition of the Art Exhibition took place in 1942 to resume only in 1948. [2] The event has since been held on a regular basis since 1948. In 2007 Mexico made its official debut at the Venice Art Biennal with an exhibition by artist Rafel Lozano-Hemmer. Art News NonstarvingArtists.com

Venice localities:
Campagna Lupia CAMPOLONGO MAGGIORE CAMPONOGARA Caorle Cavallino-treporti Cavarzere Ceggia Chioggia Cinto Caomaggiore Cona Concordia Sagittaria Dolo ERACLEA Fiesso D''artico Fossalta Di Piave Fossalta Di Portogruaro Fosso'' Gruaro Jesolo Marcon MARTELLAGO Meolo MIRA MIRANO Musile Di Piave NOALE Noventa Di Piave Pianiga Portogruaro Pramaggiore Quarto D''altino Salzano San Dona'' Di Piave San Michele Al Tagliamento Santa Maria Di Sala Santo Stino Di Livenza Scorze'' SPINEA Stra Teglio Veneto Torre Di Mosto VENEZIA Vigonovo

Part of the information regarding the history, the art, the traditions and the events of the province of present Venice on this page is drawn from the situated one www.wikipedia.org respecting the GNU Free Documentation License.