 Venice Travel Tips
Grand Canal, Venice
Author: Nino Berbieri (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 Generic)
Venice Travel Tips is created to showcase Venice and all its beautiful sights. Whether you are planning your visit there or simply browsing for fun, I hope you will enjoy this glimpse of Venice that I'm bringing you.
Church of San Michele in Isola, Venice
Author: Didier Descouens (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Introducing Venice
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy. The capital of Veneto region, it covers 414.57 sq km (160.1 sq mi) and has a population of 270,000 people (2011 estimate). The uniqueness of Venice compared to just about any other city in the world is its location. The city sits in an archipelago of interlocking islands. These are divided into six districts, called sestiere, namely Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Marco and Castello. These sestiere have existed for hundreds of years. Their history goes back to 1170.
Each of the sestiere is further broken down into parishes. The parishes are even older than the sestiere, dating back to 1033, when there were seventy. During Napoleon's rule of Venice, he reduced the number of parishes to thirty-eight, and the number remains till today.
Gondolas of Venice
Author: Jorge Royan (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Climate of Venice
Venice experiences a humid subtropical climate. Summers here are warm while winters cool. Warmest month in Venice is July, when the average high temperature rises to 27.5°C (81.5°F). January is the coldest month, registering an average low temperature of -0.9°C (30.4°F). August is the wettest month in the city, receiving 83.1 mm (3.272 in) of rain.
History of Venice
Venice is an ancient city, but more than that, human habitation in the marshland where Venice is located today goes back even further. According to tradition and available information, Venice was first inhabited by people who fled the neighboring citieis during Roman times following repeated attacks by Germanic and Hun tribes.
Before the city of Venice was established, the marshland in the area were inhabited by fishermen. The founding date of Venice is said to be noon on 25 March, 421. That's the date taken for the dedicated for the first church in Venice, the Church of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto.
Church of San Giacomo di Rialto, Venice
Author: Didier Descouens (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
By the 8th century, Venice was under the control of the Byzantine empire. Its people elected their first ruler during this period. He was made the first Doge of Venice, and he served as the lcoal Byzantine governor to the city. At that time, the seat of the local governor was at Malamocco. it relocated to Rialto in the 9th century. This was when the first ducal palace and the basilica of St Mark were built.
Venice developed into a city state between the 9th and the 12th century. It benefited from its located at the head of the Adriatic Sea. Venice developed its naval and commercial power during this period to exert its dominion over the entire territory that included the Dalmatian coast. To overcome piracy in the area, it captured a number of villages along the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea.
In 1204, Venice financed the Fourth Crusade in seizing Constantinople to establish the Latin Empire. Treasures plundered from there were brought back to Venice, including the gilt bronze horses that grace the entrance to St Mark's basilica (what we see today are replicas as the original are put away in the museum for safekeeping).
Canal of Venice
Author: Luna04 (GNU General Public License)
After several hundred years in power, Venice began to decline in the 15th century. This began with the unsuccessful attempt to defend Thessalonica against the Ottomans. Venice was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797, ending 1100 years as an independent city. Napoleon place it within Austrian Territory until 1805, when it was made part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but when Napoleon was defeated in 1814, Venice once again was controlled by Austria, as part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. After a brief period from 1848 to 1849, when it was again the Venetian Republic, Venice was integrated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.
Economy of Venice
Once a major trading center of Europe, Venice has evolved over time. From the mid-20th century onwards, it has developed into one of the main tourist destinations of the world. In 2006, it was the 28th most internationally visited city, receiving 2.927 million international visitors that year.
View from St Mark's Campanile
Author: Jakub Halun (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Transportation in Venice
Unlike other cities, being an archipelago, Venice is laced with canals. There are 177 of them in total, and they are connected by 409 bridges. Except for the western entrance into Venice, there are neither roads nor rail within the city. Going from place to place is either by boat or on foot, making it Europe's biggest car-free area.
Commuters move about in Venice using the water buses, called vaporetti. These serve 25 different routes across the city. The gondola are mostly used by tourists as well as for weddings and funerals, and are not the swiftest (and certainly not the cheapest) form of water transport in the city. There is a light rail transit system called the Venice People Mover, but it operates only a track covering 853 meters.
Aerial view of Venice
Author: Jakub Halun (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Arriving in Venice
The nearest airport, Marco Polo International Airport (VCE), is located 4.3 nautical miles (8 km) to the north of Venice. The airport receives flights from Amsterdam, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Bucharest, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Ibiza, Lisbon, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Montreal, Moscow, Munich, Naples, New York-JFK, Nice, Paris, Riga, Rome, Toronto, Toulouse and Vienna, among others.
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Main Tourist Attractions of Venice
- St Mark's Square
Central public square of Venice, the main tourist destination of the city.
- Doge's Palace
Palace of the ruler of Venice, located facing St Mark's Square.
- Rialto Bridge
The most famous bridge in Venice.
- St Mark's Basilica
Cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice.
- The Peggy Guggenheim Museum
Museum showcasing the personal collection of modern art assembled by Peggy Guggenheim.
Sestieri of Venice
Venice is divided into six neighbourhoods called sestieri. Here's how you can explore them one by one.
- Cannaregio
The northernmost and most populous sestiere of Venice.
- Castello
The easternmost sextiere of Venice.
- Dorsoduro
The largest sestiere of Venice.
- San Marco
The sestiere in the heart of Venice, and includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
- San Polo
The smallest sestiere of Venice.
- Santa Croce
Sestiere on the north west of the main islands of Venice.
Places around Venice
- Isola di San Servolo
Small island in the Venetian Lagoon, to the southeast of San Giorgio Maggiore.
- La Certosa
Island in the Venetian Lagoon, to the northwest of Venice.
- Lido di Venezia
Sandbar to the east of Venice, venue of the Venice Film Festival.
- Mestre
City on the coast of mainland Italy overlooking Venice.
- Murano
Island to the north of the main of Venice, famous for its glassware.
- Sacca Sessola
Man-made island to the south of Venice.
- Sant'Erasmo
Island to the east of Vignole in the Venetian Lagoon.
- Venetian Lagoon
Enclosed bay that surrounds Venice, with a number of small islands.
- Veneto
Region of Italy to which Venice belongs, and serves as its capital.
- Vignole
A group of two islands to the east of Venice.
Related Websites
Here are some of my other websites:
- A Good Sleep Tonight
- Good Price Rooms
- Good Value Rooms
- The Right Room
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Venice Travel Tips
Author: Hellkt (public domain)
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