Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the city in 1380. But Venice prevailed, controlling the Adriatic and a backyard that
stretched from Dalmatia to Bergamo.
As the Age of Exploration began, Venice lost its monopoly over seafaring trade routes.
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Venetian territory of Morea (in Greece) in 1499
gave the Turks control over Adriatic Sea access. The Genovese opened transatlantic trade
routes following Columbus' 1492 discovery of the Americas, and Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama rounded Africa's Cape of Good Hope in 1498.
Once it could no longer rule the seas, Venice changed tack and began conquering
Europe by charm. Venetian art was incredibly daring, bringing sensuous colour and sly so-
cial commentary even to religious subjects. By the end of the 16th century, Venice was
known across Europe for its painting, catchy music and 12,000 registered prostitutes.
Venetian reputations did nothing to prevent Napoleon from claiming the city in 1797
and looting it of its art. By 1817 one-quarter of Venice's population was destitute. When
Venice rallied to resist the Austrian occupation in 1848-49, a blockade left it wracked by
cholera and short on food. Venetian rebels lost the fight but not the war: they became early
martyrs to the cause of Italian independence, and in 1866 Venice joined the independent
kingdom of Italy.
The once-glamorous empire gradually took on an industrious workaday aspect, with
factories springing up on Giudecca and a roadway from the mainland built by Mussolini.
Italian partisans joined Allied troops to wrest Veneto from Fascist control, but the tragedy
of war and mass deportation of Venice's Jewish population in 1942-44 shook Venice to its
moorings. Postwar, many Venetians left for Milan and other centres of industry.
On 4 November 1966, disaster struck: record floods poured into 16,000 Venetian
homes, stranding residents in the wreckage of 1200 years of civilisation. But Venice's cos-
mopolitan charm was a saving grace: assistance from admirers poured in (from Mexico to
Australia, from millionaires to pensioners) and Unesco coordinated some 27 international
charities to redress the ravages of the flood.
Defying centuries of dire predictions, Venice has not yet become a Carnevale-masked
parody of itself nor a lost Atlantis. The city remains relevant and realistic, a global launch
pad for daring art and film, ingenious crafts, opera premieres and music revivals, even as
it seeks sustainable solutions to rising water levels.
