Venice history

Venice is a city that is believed to have begun life as a refuge encampment in the Byzantine era. Settlers travelled to the area which was more marshland than lagoon, and created small colonies dotted around the coastline. Over time, the colonies grew and began to intertwine, until they eventually formed one larger city with a few noticeable offshoots.

The city relied heavily upon the sea for its survival, not only for the food provisions it gave, but for the trading routes that were opened up with the rest of Europe. It became famous for its silk and other speciality handcrafted goods, and grew into a thriving community.

For many years, Venice was a republic state. It kept its own laws, trained its own armies and fought naval battles on every front, but the sea which had been to its advantage at first became its foe as Venice failed to keep up the evolutionary race and expand as quickly as its closest rivals. Venice was eventually swallowed up by other parts of Italy, and finally became part of the country as a whole.

The unique Venetian buildings are constructed on wooden stilts which keep most of each building above the waterline. The wooden planks were brought in from Slovenia and were pushed deep through the soft silt until they reached the heavy clay beneath. The wood doesn’t rot underwater, and thanks to the flow of minerals in the current, the stilts almost petrify and turn to a stone-like substance, capable of withstanding years in their supporting roles.