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Little surprise, then, that the number of gondolas you see gliding up and down the canals is also shrinking. In the 17th and 18th centuries, as many as 10,000 gondolas filled those waterways. In modern times, only around 400 are still touring the watery routes – and almost all are used for tourism.

7. There is only one official woman gondolier

As the gondolier profession was historically passed from father to son, women never had the chance to pursue this as a career.

After almost a thousand years of being an exclusively male business, Giorgia Boscolo, the daughter of a gondolier, became Venice’s first licensed gondoliera around 2010.

But that’s not to say that there aren’t other women rowing or even building boats in Venice.

READ ALSO: ‘Rowing in Venice is unique – it’s the closest you’ll get to walking on water’

Photo by Andrea PATTARO / AFP
8. Venetians invented quarantine

As Venice built an empire on trading widely by sea, it followed that ships docking in the city would also bring diseases with them and outbreaks could follow.

To prevent this from happening, ships would be required to sit offshore for 40 days – which is where we get the word ‘quarantine’ from (40 in Italian is quaranta).

READ ALSO: From d***o to quarantine: 10 English words you didn’t realize were stolen from Italian

The Venetian government created quarantine in 1348, after which people and goods arriving to the city would be taken to an isolated island. If Venetians had been exposed to the plague, they and their families would also be sent there. If it turned out they were infected, they’d be sent to another, separate island full of infected people.

If after 40 days, the signs of infection had passed, they were free to go.

The lagoon city was an independent empire for more than a millennium. Known as La Serenissima from 697, its autonomy was ultimately brought to an end when Napoleon took control in 1797. France and Austria fought for ruling power until eventually, the city became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866 under King Vittorio Emanuele II.

Before that time, Venice ruled most of the Mediterranean and traded with western Asia, hitting its peak of power in the 14th century. Islands such as Crete and Cyprus were under Venice’s rule and it also had a lot of clout in the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

Because of its topography, Venice became a plucky empire, needing to survive with good trade links and ship building. It couldn’t rely on much else, such as agriculture, so with good business acumen, Venice became one of the wealthiest cities.

Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP
6. Gondoliers are disappearing

As no motor transport is allowed in Venice’s historic centre, you get around on foot or by the famously romantic mode of transport, the gondola.

But both the boats and the professionals who steer them are disappearing. You need a professional licence to become a gondolier and only about three or four are granted each year. It’s no wonder when you consider that it takes 400 hours of training to get one – as well as the requirement to pass an exam on Venetian history and architecture.

How has the wood endured the years? You might think the material would have decayed, leaving the whole city to crumble into the canals. In fact, the water around Venice is low in oxygen and so the conditions aren’t viable for microorganisms that may break down the wood.

What’s more, the saltwater has meant that salt and other minerals have been absorbed, hardening the wood into a stone-strength material.

3. Venice’s canals are up to 17 metres deep

It’s hard to gauge just how far down Venice’s waterways go, as the water is usually not transparent. The canals all vary in depth, but they’re mostly around 1.5 to 2 metres deep, depending on the tides and whether work is being carried out.

The Grand Canal, the main one that runs right through the centre of Venice and known as the Canalazzo to locals, is deeper – at 5 metres. It stretches for two and a half miles and has over 170 buildings perched along its length.

Its distinctive S-shape is thought to be ancient and it existed back in Roman times, when people lived in stilt houses along its banks.

Venice celebrates the 1,600th anniversary of its founding on March 25th. We look at some of the intriguing things you might not know about the lagoon city and its 16 centuries of history.
1. Venice was born with the first stone of San Giacomo di Rialto church

March 25th 421 is commonly recognised as the day that Venice was founded, with the laying of the first stone of the San Giacomo di Rialto (San Giacometto) Church. These origins are reported in the Chronicon Altinate, a Latin chronicle that recounts the legends of the city’s founding, and later by Venetian historian Marin Sanudo, who reported the massive fire on the Rialto bridge in 1514:

“Solum restò in piedi la chiexia di San Giacomo di Rialto, la qual fu la prima chiexia edificata in Venetia dil 421 a dì 25 Marzo, come in le nostre croniche si leze”.

This can be translated as: “Only the church of San Giacomo of Rialto stood, which was the first church built in Venice on March 25th 421, like our chronicles tell.”

2. Venice is built on wood

Those breathtaking piazzas and opulent buildings are all the more impressive when you look around and notice that it’s all rising from the water.

How was the city built on such fluid foundations? Before Venice became what we know it is today, the area was a muddy, marshy lagoon with all the islands spread across its swampy plains.

To transform it into the floating city that it’s now known as, early settlers had to drain the lagoon and dig the canals. They installed wooden stakes, or logs, to line them and create a barrier, which also lay on hard clay beneath. They then built wooden platforms on top of the stakes and put stone on top of those. Venice’s buildings are built on these foundations.

Although no surviving historical records deal directly with the founding of Venice,[19] tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees—from nearby Roman cities such as Padua, Aquileia, Treviso, Altino, and Concordia (modern Portogruaro), as well as from the undefended countryside—who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun invasions.[20] This is further supported by the documentation on the so-called "apostolic families", the twelve founding families of Venice who elected the first doge, who in most cases trace their lineage back to Roman families.[21][22] Some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen, on the islands in the original marshy lagoons, who were referred to as incolae lacunae ("lagoon dwellers"). The traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto (Rivoalto, "High Shore")—said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421 (the Feast of the Annunciation).[23][24]

Beginning as early as AD 166–168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the main Roman town in the area, present-day Oderzo. This part of Roman Italy was again overrun in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, by the Huns led by Attila. The last and most enduring immigration into the north of the Italian peninsula, that of the Lombards in 568, left the Eastern Roman Empire only a small strip of coastline in the current Veneto, including Venice. The Roman/Byzantine territory was organized as the Exarchate of Ravenna, administered from that ancient port and overseen by a viceroy (the Exarch) appointed by the Emperor in Constantinople. Ravenna and Venice were connected only by sea routes, and with the Venetians' isolation came increasing autonomy. New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores formed the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the lagoon, dating from c. 568.[25]

St Mark's Basilica houses the relics of St Mark the Evangelist

The Doge's Palace, the former residence of the Doge of Venice
The traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto (Anafestus Paulicius), was elected in 697, as written in the oldest chronicle by John, deacon of Venice c. 1008. Some modern historians claim Paolo Lucio Anafesto was actually the Exarch Paul, and Paul's successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Paul's magister militum (or "general"), literally "master of soldiers". In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the exarchate rose in a rebellion over the iconoclastic controversy, at the urging of Pope Gregory II. The exarch, held responsible for the acts of his master, Byzantine Emperor Leo III, was murdered, and many officials were put to flight in the chaos. At about this time, the people of the lagoon elected their own independent leader for the first time, although the relationship of this to the uprisings is not clear. Ursus was the first of 117 "doges" (doge is the Venetian dialectal equivalent of the Latin dux ("leader"); the corresponding word in English is duke, in standard Italian duca. (See also "duce".) Whatever his original views, Ursus supported Emperor Leo III's successful military expedition to recover Ravenna, sending both men and ships. In recognition of this, Venice was "granted numerous privileges and concessions" and Ursus, who had personally taken the field, was confirmed by Leo as dux.[26] and given the added title of hypatus (from the Greek for "consul").[27]

In 751, the Lombard King Aistulf conquered most of the Exarchate of Ravenna, leaving Venice a lonely and increasingly autonomous Byzantine outpost. During this period, the seat of the local Byzantine governor (the "duke/dux", later "doge"), was at Malamocco. Settlement on the islands in the lagoon probably increased with the Lombard conquest of other Byzantine territories, as refugees sought asylum in the area. In 775/6, the episcopal seat of Olivolo (San Pietro di Castello, namely Helipolis[citation needed]) was created. During the reign of duke Agnello Particiaco (811–827) the ducal seat moved from Malamocco to the more protected Rialto, within present-day Venice. The monastery of St. Zachary and the first ducal palace and basilica of St. Mark, as well as a walled defense (civitatis murus) between Olivolo and Rialto, were subsequently built here.

Charlemagne sought to subdue the city to his rule. He ordered the pope to expel the Venetians from the Pentapolis along the Adriatic coast;[28] Charlemagne's own son Pepin of Italy, king of the Lombards, under the authority of his father, embarked on a siege of Venice itself. This, however, proved a costly failure. The siege lasted six months, with Pepin's army ravaged by the diseases of the local swamps and eventually forced to withdraw in 810. A few months later, Pepin himself died, apparently as a result of a disease contracted there. In the aftermath, an agreement between Charlemagne and the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus in 814 recognized Venice as Byzantine territory, and granted the city trading rights along the Adriatic coast.

In 828 the new city's prestige increased with the acquisition, from Alexandria, of relics claimed to be of St Mark the Evangelist; these were placed in the new basilica. Winged lions—visible throughout Venice—are the emblem of St Mark. The patriarchal seat was also moved to Rialto. As the community continued to develop, and as Byzantine power waned, its own autonomy grew, leading to eventual independence.[29]

Expansion

The Republic of Venice and its colonial empire Stato da Màr.
From the 9th to the 12th century, Venice developed into a city state (an Italian thalassocracy or repubblica marinara; there were seven others: the most important ones, Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi); and the lesser known Ragusa, Ancona, Gaeta and the Republic of Noli. Its own strategic position at the head of the Adriatic made Venetian naval and commercial power almost invulnerable.[30] With the elimination of pirates along the Dalmatian coast, the city became a flourishing trade center between Western Europe and the rest of the world—especially with the Byzantine Empire and Asia), where its navy protected sea routes against piracy.[31]

Piazza San Marco in Venice, with St. Mark's Campanile.
The Republic of Venice seized a number of places on the eastern shores of the Adriatic before 1200, mostly for commercial reasons, because pirates based there were a menace to trade. The doge already possessed the titles of Duke of Dalmatia and Duke of Istria. Later mainland possessions, which extended across Lake Garda as far west as the Adda River, were known as the Terraferma; they were acquired partly as a buffer against belligerent neighbours, partly to guarantee Alpine trade routes, and partly to ensure the supply of mainland wheat (on which the city depended). In building its maritime commercial empire, Venice dominated the trade in salt,[32] acquired control of most of the islands in the Aegean, including Crete, and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, and became a major power-broker in the Near East. By the standards of the time, Venice's stewardship of its mainland territories was relatively enlightened and the citizens of such towns as Bergamo, Brescia, and Verona rallied to the defence of Venetian sovereignty when it was threatened by invaders.

Venice remained closely associated with Constantinople, being twice granted trading privileges in the Eastern Roman Empire, through the so-called golden bulls or "chrysobulls", in return for aiding the Eastern Empire to resist Norman and Turkish incursions. In the first chrysobull, Venice acknowledged its homage to the empire; but not in the second, reflecting the decline of Byzantium and the rise of Venice's power.[33]

Venice became an imperial power following the Fourth Crusade, which, having veered off course, culminated in 1204 by capturing and sacking Constantinople and establishing the Latin Empire. As a result of this conquest, considerable Byzantine plunder was brought back to Venice. This plunder included the gilt bronze horses from the Hippodrome of Constantinople, which were originally placed above the entrance to the cathedral of Venice, St Mark's Basilica (The originals have been replaced with replicas, and are now stored within the basilica.) After the fall of Constantinople, the former Eastern Roman Empire was partitioned among the Latin crusaders and the Venetians. Venice subsequently carved out a sphere of influence in the Mediterranean known as the Duchy of the Archipelago, and captured Crete.[34]

View of San Giorgio Maggiore Island from St. Mark's Campanile.
The seizure of Constantinople proved as decisive a factor in ending the Byzantine Empire as the loss of the Anatolian themes, after Manzikert. Although the Byzantines recovered control of the ravaged city a half-century later, the Byzantine Empire was terminally weakened, and existed as a ghost of its old self, until Sultan Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453.

Situated on the Adriatic Sea, Venice had always traded extensively with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world. By the late 13th century, Venice was the most prosperous city in all of Europe. At the peak of its power and wealth, it had 36,000 sailors operating 3,300 ships, dominating Mediterranean commerce. Venice's leading families vied with each other to build the grandest palaces and to support the work of the greatest and most talented artists. The city was governed by the Great Council, which was made up of members of the noble families of Venice. The Great Council appointed all public officials, and elected a Senate of 200 to 300 individuals. Since this group was too large for efficient administration, a Council of Ten (also called the Ducal Council, or the Signoria), controlled much of the administration of the city. One member of the great council was elected "doge", or duke, to be the chief executive; he would usually hold the title until his death, although several Doges were forced, by pressure from their oligarchical peers, to resign and retire into monastic seclusion, when they were felt to have been discredited by political failure.

Monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-1475), captain-general of the Republic of Venice from 1455 to 1475.
The Venetian governmental structure was similar in some ways to the republican system of ancient Rome, with an elected chief executive (the doge), a senator-like assembly of nobles, and the general citizenry with limited political power, who originally had the power to grant or withhold their approval of each newly elected doge. Church and various private property was tied to military service, although there was no knight tenure within the city itself. The Cavalieri di San Marco was the only order of chivalry ever instituted in Venice, and no citizen could accept or join a foreign order without the government's consent. Venice remained a republic throughout its independent period, and politics and the military were kept separate, except when on occasion the Doge personally headed the military. War was regarded as a continuation of commerce by other means. Therefore, the city's early employment of large numbers of mercenaries for service elsewhere, and later its reliance on foreign mercenaries when the ruling class was preoccupied with commerce.

The Fra Mauro Map of the world. The map was made around 1450 and depicts Asia, Africa and Europe.

View of San Marco basin in 1697.
Although the people of Venice generally remained orthodox Roman Catholics, the state of Venice was notable for its freedom from religious fanaticism, and executed nobody for religious heresy during the Counter-Reformation. This apparent lack of zeal contributed to Venice's frequent conflicts with the papacy. In this context, the writings of the Anglican divine William Bedell are particularly illuminating. Venice was threatened with the interdict on a number of occasions and twice suffered its imposition. The second, most noted, occasion was in 1606, by order of Pope Paul V.[citation needed]

Physical and human geography
The landscape
Site
Situated at the northwestern end of the Adriatic Sea, Venice lies on an archipelago in the crescent-shaped Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon), which stretches some 32 miles (51 km) from the reclaimed marshes of Jesolo in the north to the drained lands beyond Chioggia at the southern end. The shallow waters of the lagoon are protected by a line of sandbanks, or lidi, whose three gaps, or porti, allow passage of the 3-foot (1-metre) tides and the city’s maritime traffic. On the sandbanks are many small settlements, some of them centuries old. The best-known is the Lido itself, which has been a fashionable seaside resort since the 19th century.

Venice
Venice
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Terraferma
Although Venice may aptly be regarded as an isolated sea city, it has always had close links with the surrounding marshlands and the mainland of northern Italy. The Venetian republic included the perimeter of the lagoon, the dogado, within its territory. In addition, from the early 15th century it amassed a large land empire known as terraferma (“dry land”), stretching from the Istrian Peninsula in the east to the borders of Milan in the west and from the Po River in the south to the high Alps in the north. From the 16th century onward, the Venetians invested heavily in the purchase, reclamation, and drainage of terraferma lands. The imprint of the republic may still be seen in former subject cities, such as Padua, Verona, and Vicenza, where Venetian Gothic palaces line the streets and the symbol of Venice, the lion of San Marco, stands over the city squares.

Today the administrative city, or comune, of Venice embraces the 90-mile (145-km) perimeter of the lagoon, taking in the urban and industrial areas of Mestre and Marghera and the Marco Polo International Airport at Tessera. The proportion of the population of the comune that lives in Venice itself has shrunk steadily. At the beginning of the 20th century the historic city centre contained three-fourths of the comune’s population, and at mid-century it still contained more than half. By the beginning of the 21st century that fraction had shrunk to less than one-fourth.

Venice, Italian Venezia, city, major seaport, and capital of both the provincia (province) of Venezia and the regione (region) of Veneto, northern Italy. An island city, it was once the centre of a maritime republic. It was the greatest seaport in late medieval Europe and the continent’s commercial and cultural link to Asia. Venice is unique environmentally, architecturally, and historically, and in its days as a republic the city was styled la serenissima (“the most serene” or “sublime”). It remains a major Italian port in the northern Adriatic Sea and is one of the world’s oldest tourist and cultural centres.

Santa Maria della Salute
Santa Maria della Salute
Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, where the Grand Canal opens into the San Marco Basin.
Tom Brakefield/Stockbyte/Thinkstock
Grand Canal, with the Rialto Bridge in the background, Venice, Italy
Grand Canal, with the Rialto Bridge in the background, Venice, Italy
Eric Carle/Shostal Associates
Grand Canal, Venice.
Grand Canal, Venice.
© Sailorr/Fotolia
Since the fall of the Venetian republic in 1797, the city has held an unrivaled place in the Western imagination and has been endlessly described in prose and verse. The luminous spectacle of ornate marbled and frescoed palaces, bell towers, and domes reflected in the sparkling waters of the lagoon under a blue Adriatic sky has been painted, photographed, and filmed to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish the real city from its romantic representations. The visitor arriving in Venice is still transported into another world, one whose atmosphere and beauty remain incomparable.

Canaletto: The Doges' Palace and Piazza San Marco, Venice
Canaletto: The Doges' Palace and Piazza San Marco, Venice
The Doges' Palace and Piazza San Marco, Venice, oil on canvas by Canaletto; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Scala/Art Resource, New York
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Today Venice is recognized as part of the artistic and architectural patrimony of all humanity, a fitting role for a city whose thousand-year economic and political independence was sustained by its role in global trading. The situation of the city on islands has limited modern suburban spread beyond the historic centre; its framework of canals and narrow streets has prevented the intrusion of automobiles; and its unmatched wealth of fine buildings and monuments dating from the period of commercial dominance has ensured a keen and almost universal desire for sensitive conservation. This concern for conservation is now extended not just to the city’s monuments but to the very city itself, as rising water levels and subsidence of the land upon which Venice is built threaten the continued existence of the city in its present form. In 1987 Venice and its lagoon were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Pop. (2009 est.) city, 59,984; (2011 est.) comune, 270,884.

The San Marco bell tower, or campanile, was built in the 12th century and collapsed in 1902. The tower was rebuilt to be exactly the same as the previous one. It is 98.6 metres tall, making it the fifth tallest bell tower in Italy.
Venice is sinking at the rate of 1-2 millimeters a year.
The population of Venice has decreased from 120,000 to 60,000 in the last 50 years. Some experts believe Venice could be a ghost town by 2030 with only tourists visiting by day.
The first woman in the world that graduated was born in Venice in 1646.
The first public casino in the world was opened in Venice in 1638.
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Here are 10 facts about Venice you probably didn’t know.

Venice is known for its bridges. There are 417 bridges in Venice, and 72 of those are private.
Houses in Venice are numbered according to districts, not streets, making it difficult to find addresses, even for postmen. The rule of thumb is to look for a monument, shop, or landmark in close proximity.
There are about 350 gondolas and 400 gondolieri in Venice. On average, gondolas are 11 meters long and weigh around 600 kilos.
In 1608, the Council of Ten approved wearing masks only during the carnival. Those who broke the law were heavily punished. Punishments ranged from two years in prison to public beating and binding to the pillar of shame.
There are 177 canals in Venice. The S-shaped Grand Canal is the biggest and splits the city in two.

Venice, known also as the “City of Canals,” “The Floating City,” and “Serenissima,” is arguably one of Italy’s most picturesque cities. With its winding canals, striking architecture, and beautiful bridges, Venice is a popular destination for travel.