View source for Venice

{{Short description|City in Veneto, Italy}}
{{Redirect|Venezia|other uses|Venezia (disambiguation)|and|Venice (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                  = Venice
| official_name         = Comune di Venezia
| native_name           = {{native name|it|Venezia}}<br />{{native name|vec|Venesia}}
| image_skyline         = 
{{multiple image
 | border        = infobox
 | perrow        = 1/3/2/1
 | total_width   = 290
 | caption_align = center
 | image1        = Santa Maria della Salute (50428075772).jpg
 | caption1      = [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]]
 | image2        = Santa Maria della Salute from Hotel Monaco.jpg
 | caption2      = [[Santa Maria della Salute|Salute]]
 | image3        = Palazzo Giustinian + Ca' Foscari Venedig.jpg
 | caption3      = [[Ca' Foscari]]
 | image4        = Bridge of Sighs sea facade Venice.jpg
 | caption4      = [[Bridge of Sighs]]
 | image5        = Campanile of St Mark's Basilica Aug 2020 8.jpg
 | caption5      = [[St Mark's Campanile]]
 | image6        = Doge's Palace (Venice) at night 2023-msu-2023-0I9A6405-.jpg
 | caption6      = [[Doge's Palace]]
}}
| image_flag            = Flag of Venice.svg
| image_shield          = Venezia-Stemma.svg
| image_map             = 
| map_alt               = 
| map_caption           = 
| pushpin_map_alt       = 
| pushpin_map           = Italy Veneto#Italy#Europe
| coordinates           = {{Coord|45|26|15|N|12|20|9|E|region:IT-34_type:city(260000)|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region                = [[Veneto]]
| metropolitan_city     = [[Metropolitan City of Venice|Venice]] (VE)
| frazioni              = Chirignago, [[Favaro Veneto]], [[Mestre]], [[Marghera]], [[Murano]], [[Burano]], [[Giudecca]], [[Lido di Venezia|Lido]], Zelarino
| mayor_party           = [[Courage Italy|CI]]
| mayor                 = [[Luigi Brugnaro]]
| area_footnotes        = 
| area_total_km2        = 414.57
| population_footnotes  = <ref name="population">{{cite web|title=Monthly Demographic Balance|url=https://demo.istat.it/app/?l=en&a=&i=D7B|publisher=[[Italian National Institute of Statistics|ISTAT]]}}</ref>
| population_total      = 249466
| population_as_of      = 2025
| population_demonym    = Veneziano<br />Venetian (English)
| telephone             = 
| elevation_footnotes   = 
| elevation_m           = 1
| twin1                 = 
| twin1_country         = 
| postalcode            = 
| istat                 = 027042
| saint                 = [[Mark the Evangelist|St. Mark the Evangelist]]
| day                   = 25 April
| postal_code           = 30100
| area_code             = 041
| website               = {{Official website|http://www.comune.venezia.it/}}
| footnotes             = 
}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS        = Venice and its Lagoon
| Image      = Panorama of Canal Grande and Ponte di Rialto, Venice - September 2017.jpg
| Caption    = Venice in autumn, with the [[Rialto Bridge]] in the background
| image_size = 275
| Criteria   = Cultural: I, II, III, IV, V, VI
| ID         = 394
| Year       = 1987
}}
{{OSM Location map
| coord            = {{coord|45.438|12.3285}}
| zoom             = 13
| float            = right
| nolabels         = 1
| width            = 310
| height           = 210
| title            = Venice
| caption          =

| shapeD           = n-circle
| shape-colorD     = green
| label-colorD     = dark blue
| shape-outlineD   = white
| label-sizeD      = 12
| label-posD       = left
| mark-sizeD       = 12,11
| label-offset-xD  = 0
| label-offset-yD  = 0

| label1           = Rialto Bridge
| mark-coord1      = {{coord|45.438|12.336}}
| mark-title1      = [[Rialto Bridge]]
| label-offset-y1  = -6

| label2           = Piazza^San Marco
| mark-coord2      = {{coord|45.433889|12.338056}}
| mark-title2      = [[Piazza San Marco]]<br>[[St Mark's Basilica]]<br>[[St Mark's Campanile]]<br>[[Horses of Saint Mark]]<br>[[Doge's Palace]]
| label-offset-y2  = -3

| label3           = Grand Canal
| mark-coord3      = {{coord|45.4315|12.336}}
| mark-title3      = [[Grand Canal (Venice)]]
| label-pos3       = right

| label4           = Bridge of ^Sighs
| mark-coord4      = {{coord|45.434056|12.340861}}
| mark-title4      = [[Bridge of Sighs]]
| label-pos4       = top,with-line
| ldx4 = 8 | ldy4  = -37

| label5           = Santa Maria della Salute
| mark-coord5      = {{coord|45.430833|12.334444}}
| mark-title5      = [[Santa Maria della Salute]]
| label-pos5       = bottom
| ldx5             = -14

| label6           = Cannaregio
| mark-coord6      = {{coord|45.446|12.327}}
| mark-title6      = [[Cannaregio]]

| label7           = Isola di
| labela7          = San Michele
| mark-coord7      = {{coord|45.447|12.347}}
| mark-title7      = [[Isola di San Michele]]

| label8           = Castello
| mark-coord8      = {{coord|45.4357|12.3485}}
| mark-title8      = [[Castello, Venice]]
| label-pos8       = top

| label9           = Dorsoduro
| mark-coord9      = {{coord|45.431|12.326}}
| mark-title9      = [[Dorsoduro]]
| label-pos9       = left

| label10          = Santa Croce
| mark-coord10     = {{coord|45.437661|12.319208}}
| mark-title10     = [[Santa Croce (Venice)]]

| label11          = Santa Lucia
| labela11         = railway station
| mark-coord11     = {{coord|45.440833|12.320833}}
| mark-title11     = [[Venezia Santa Lucia railway station]]
| label-pos11      = top

| label12          = Tronchetto
| mark-coord12     = {{coord|45.440556|12.305}}
| mark-title12     = [[Tronchetto]]
| label-pos12      = right
}}

'''Venice''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɛ|n|ᵻ|s}} {{respell|VEN|iss}}; {{langx|it|Venezia}} {{IPA|it|veˈnɛttsja||It-Venezia.ogg}}; {{langx|vec|Venesia}} {{IPA|vec|veˈnɛsja|}}, formerly {{lang|vec|Venexia}} {{IPA|vec|veˈnɛzja|}}) is a city in northeastern [[Italy]] and the capital of the [[Veneto]] [[Regions of Italy|region]]. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridges.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0e9aea9fc6c54b0eb9df8a5d80a37130 |title=The Bridges of Venice |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en-US |url-status=live |date=19 June 2023 |access-date=6 November 2023 |archive-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231106145412/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0e9aea9fc6c54b0eb9df8a5d80a37130}}</ref> 

The islands are in the shallow [[Venetian Lagoon]], an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the [[Po River|Po]] and the [[Piave River|Piave]] rivers (more exactly between the [[Brenta (river)|Brenta]] and the [[Sile (river)|Sile]]). As of 2025, 249,466 people resided in greater Venice or the [[Comune]] of Venice,<ref name="population" /> of whom about 51,000 live in the historical island city of Venice (''centro storico'') and the rest on the mainland (''terraferma''). 

Together with the cities of [[Padua, Italy|Padua]] and [[Treviso, Italy|Treviso]], Venice is included in the [[Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area]] (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.univiu.org/rassegna_docs/corrieredellasera_06032011_micelli.pdf |title=Patreve, l'attuale governance non-funziona |trans-title=Patreve, the current governance doesn't work |date=6 March 2011 |publisher=[[Venice International University]] |language=it |access-date=6 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225171027/https://www.univiu.org/rassegna_docs/corrieredellasera_06032011_micelli.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The name is derived from the ancient [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]] people who inhabited the region by the 10th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Venice |title=Venice {{Pipe}} Etymology of the name Venice by etymonline |last=Harper |first=Douglas |date=10 October 2017 |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |access-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228100411/https://www.etymonline.com/word/Venice |archive-date=28 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Charnock |first=Richard Stephen |date=1859 |title=Local Etymology: A derivative dictionary of geographical names |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_I2BulY4WvsYC |location=London |publisher=Houlston and Wright |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_I2BulY4WvsYC/page/n298/mode/1up 288] |quote=Pepin, as king of Italy, granted some territory along the banks of the Adige, and Rivo Alto (Rialto), united with neighbouring islands, took the name of Venetiæ, from the province of Venetia, the territory of the ancient Veneti, of which these islands formed a dependency. |lccn=08032183 |oclc=4696115}}</ref> The city was the capital of the [[Republic of Venice]] for almost a millennium, from 810 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], and a [[staging area]] for the [[Crusades]] and the [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]], as well as an important centre of commerce—especially silk, grain, and [[spice trade|spice]], and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. The then-[[city-state]] is considered to have been the first real international financial centre, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ |title=Finance Masters: A brief history of international financial centers in the last millennium |last=Coispeau |first=Olivier |date=10 August 2016 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=9789813108844 |language=en}}</ref> This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/venice.htm |title=Venetian Music of the Renaissance |publisher=[[Vanderbilt University]] |date=11 October 1998 |last=Klotz |first=Justin |access-date=22 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614024356/http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/venice.htm |archive-date=14 June 2009}}</ref> 

For centuries, Venice possessed numerous territories along the Adriatic Sea and within the Italian [[peninsula]], leaving a significant impact on the architecture and culture that can still be seen today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vladisavljevic |first=Anja |date=19 February 2020 |title=Giovanni Vale: Venice's Legacy Still Shapes the Balkans |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2020/02/19/giovanni-vale-venices-legacy-still-shapes-the-balkans/ |access-date=24 June 2022 |website=[[Balkan Insight]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=River |first=Charles |title=The Republic of Venice: The History of the Venetian Empire and Its Influence Across the Mediterranean |publisher=Independently Published |year=2019 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Venetian Arsenal]] is considered by several historians to be the first factory in history and was the base of Venice's naval power.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coulling |first=Ian |date=3 October 2020 |title=The Arsenal of Venice |url=https://imagesofvenice.com/the-arsenal-of-venice/ |access-date=21 October 2023 |website=Images of Venice |language=en-US}}</ref> The sovereignty of Venice came to an end in 1797, at the hands of [[Napoleon]]. Subsequently, in 1866, the city became part of the [[Kingdom of Italy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Venice – Present, past and future of Venice |url=https://www.introducingvenice.com/history |access-date=24 June 2022 |website=www.introducingvenice.com |language=en}}</ref>

Venice has been known as "La Dominante", "La Serenissima", "Queen of the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". The lagoon and the city within the lagoon were inscribed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1987, covering an area of {{convert|70176.4|hectare}}.<ref name="UNESCO Venice">{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394 |title=Venice and its Lagoon |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226082945/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394 |archive-date=26 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Venice is known for several important artistic movements – especially during the [[Italian Renaissance]] – and has played an important role in the history of instrumental and operatic music; it is the birthplace of [[Baroque music]] composers [[Tomaso Albinoni]] and [[Antonio Vivaldi]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chambers |first=David |title=Venice: A documentary history |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford |location=England |isbn=0-8020-8424-9 |page=78}}</ref>

In the 21st century, Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has often been ranked one of the most beautiful cities in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themeshnews.com/top-10-most-beautiful-cities-in-the-world-2016/ |title=Top 10 most Beautiful Cities in the World 2017 |date=28 July 2016 |access-date=30 March 2017 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090926/http://www.themeshnews.com/top-10-most-beautiful-cities-in-the-world-2016/ |url-status=usurped |website=The Mesh News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://worldchacha.com/most-beautiful-cities-capital-in-the-world/10/ |title=Top 10 most Beautiful Cities in the World 2018 |date=2 September 2018 |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-date=9 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109104155/https://worldchacha.com/most-beautiful-cities-capital-in-the-world/10/ |url-status=dead |website=worldchacha.com}}</ref> It has been described by ''[[The Times]]'' as one of Europe's most romantic cities<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/breaks/article1936951.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507015418/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/breaks/article1936951.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 May 2009 |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |title=Europe's most romantic city breaks |date=17 June 2007 |access-date=27 May 2010 |first1=Stephen |last1=Bleach |first2=Brian |last2=Schofield |first3=Vincent |last3=Crump}}</ref> and by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man".<ref>{{cite news |last=Barzini |first=Luigi |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/30/books/the-most-beautiful-city-in-the-world.html |title=The Most Beautiful and Wonderful City In The World |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 May 1982}}</ref> However, the city faces challenges, including [[overtourism]], pollution, tide peaks, and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings.<ref name="NatgeoWorrall201610">{{cite magazine |last1=Worrall |first1=Simon |date=16 October 2016 |title=Tourists could destroy Venice – If floods don't first |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/if-venice-dies-salvatore-settis-tourism-flood/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018220249/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/if-venice-dies-salvatore-settis-tourism-flood/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2016 |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |language=en |access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="GuardianBuckley201611">{{cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Jonathan |date=2 November 2016 |title=When will Venice sink? You asked Google – Here's the answer |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/02/when-will-venice-sink-google |access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=8 November 2017 |title=Venice just banned mega cruise ships from sailing through the city |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=UK |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-cruise-ship-ban-55-tonnes-marghera-port-where-is-it-italy-a8044026.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220811/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-cruise-ship-ban-55-tonnes-marghera-port-where-is-it-italy-a8044026.html |archive-date=11 August 2022}}</ref> Because Venice and its lagoon are under constant threat, Venice's UNESCO listing has been under constant examination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/7767 |title=Decision 44 COM 7B.50 Venice and its Lagoon (Italy) (C 394) |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=5 March 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Republic of Venice}}
{{For timeline}}

=== Origins ===
{{Sidebar timeline
| title    = Timeline of Venice: historical affiliations
| years1   = 421–476
| events1  = {{Noflag|[[Western Roman Empire]]}}
| years2   = 476–493
| events2  = {{Noflag|[[Odoacer|Kingdom of Odoacer]]}}
| years3   = 493–553
| events3  = {{Noflag|[[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]}}
| years4   = 553–584
| events4  = {{Noflag|[[Eastern Roman Empire]]}}
| years5   = 584–697
| events5  = {{Noflag|[[Byzantine Empire]]}} ([[Exarchate of Ravenna]])
| years6   = 697–1797
| events6  = {{flagicon image|Flag of Republic of Venice (1659-1675).svg}} [[Republic of Venice]]
| years7   = 1797–1805
| events7  = {{flagicon image|Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor without haloes (1400-1806).svg}} [[Habsburg monarchy]]
| years8   = 1805–1814
| events8  = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.svg}} [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]]
| years9   = 1815–1848
| events9  = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]
| years10  = 1848–1849
| events10 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of San Marco.svg}} [[Republic of San Marco]]
| years11  = 1849–1866
| events11 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]
| years12  = 1866–1943
| events12 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg}} [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| years13  = 1943–1945
| events13 = {{flag|Italian Social Republic}}
| years14  = 1946–present
| events14 = {{flag|Italian Republic}}
}}

Although no surviving historical records deal directly with the founding or building of Venice,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeno |first=Apostolo |author-link=Apostolo Zeno |date=1847 |title=Compendio della storia Veneta di Apostolo Zeno continuata fino alla caduta della repubblica |trans-title=Compendium of the Venetian history of Apostolo Zeno which continued until the fall of the republic |language=it |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSdiAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA9 |publisher=Bonvecchiato |page=9 |quote=Imperciocchè nascendo i principati |trans-quote=Because principalities are born}}</ref> tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees – from nearby [[Ancient Rome|Roman cities]] such as Patavium ([[Padua]]), [[Aquileia]], Tarvisium ([[Treviso]]), [[Altinum]], and Concordia (modern [[Portogruaro]]), as well as from the undefended countryside – who were fleeing successive waves of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] and [[Huns|Hun]] invasions.<ref>Bosio, ''Le origini di Venezia''</ref> This is further supported by the documentation on the so-called "apostolic families", the twelve founding families of Venice who elected the first [[Doge (title)|doge]], who in most cases trace their lineage back to Roman families.<ref>{{cite book |title=L'Origine e discendenza delle famiglie patrizie |last=Barbaro |first=Marco}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Il Campidoglio veneto |last=Cappellari Vivaro |first=Girolamo Alessandro |year=1740}}</ref> 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 di Rialto|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]]).<ref>Zeno, ''Compendio'' 1847:10.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Trudy Ring |author2=Robert M. Salkin |author3=Sharon La Boda |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74JI2UlcU8AC&pg=PA745 |access-date=24 March 2011 |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-02-2 |page=745}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Burckhardt |first=Jacob |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23255316 |title=The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-044534-X |location=London, England |oclc=23255316}}</ref>

[[File:Képes krónika - 15.oldal - Velence megalapítása.jpg|alt=Chronicon Pictum, Italians, Aquileia, Venice, city, refugees, boat, sea, medieval, chronicle, book, illumination, illustration, history|thumb|The foundation of Venice as depicted in the [[Chronicon Pictum]] in 1358. According to the Hungarian chronicle, King [[Attila]] of the [[Huns]] besieged [[Aquileia]], the inhabitants of the city first fled to a sea island and then founded Venice on the island of Rialto.|left]]

Beginning as early as AD&nbsp;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&nbsp;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 by just 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 {{Circa|568}}.<ref group="note">Traditional date as given in William J. Langer, ed. ''An Encyclopedia of World History''.</ref>

The traditional first [[doge of Venice]], [[Paolo Lucio Anafesto]] (Anafestus Paulicius), was elected in 697, as written in the [[Chronicon Venetum et Gradense|oldest chronicle]] by [[John, deacon of Venice]] {{Circa|1008}}. Some modern historians claim Paolo Lucio Anafesto was actually the [[Paul (exarch)|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 the Isaurian|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. [[Orso Ipato|Ursus]] was the first of 117 "doges" (''doge'' is the [[Venetian language|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''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |author-link=John Julius Norwich |date=1982 |title=A History of Venice |title-link=A History of Venice |location=New York |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |page=13}}</ref> and given the added title of ''[[hypatus]]'' (from the Greek for "[[consul]]").<ref>Alethea Wiel (1995)[1898]. ''A History of Venice'', pp.&nbsp;26–27. New York: Barnes & Noble (reprint orig. 1898 London).</ref>

In 751, the [[Lombards|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 [[bishop|episcopal]] seat of Olivolo ([[San Pietro di Castello]]) 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 [[Pope Zachary|St Zachary]] and the first [[Doge's Palace, Venice|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;<ref>Langer</ref> 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 [[Nikephoros I Logothetes|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 [[Symbols of the Evangelists|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Venice: A New History |first=Thomas F. |last=Madden |date=2012 |page= |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=9781101601136}}</ref>

=== Expansion ===
[[File:Republic of Venice – Blank map of the main territories.png|thumb|The [[Republic of Venice]] with its [[Domini di Terraferma|Terraferma]] and [[Stato da Màr]]]]

From the 9th to the 12th centuries, Venice developed into a powerful maritime empire (an Italian [[thalassocracy]] known also as ''[[Maritime republics|repubblica marinara]]''). In addition to Venice there were seven others: the most important ones were [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]], and [[Duchy of Amalfi|Amalfi]]; and the lesser known were [[Republic of Ragusa|Ragusa]], [[Republic of Ancona|Ancona]], [[Duchy of Gaeta|Gaeta]] and [[Republic of Noli|Noli]]. Its own strategic position at the head of the Adriatic made Venetian naval and commercial power almost invulnerable.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Dot On the I In History: Of Gentiles and Jews—a Hebrew Odyssey Scrolling the Internet |last=Hammer |first=Michael B. |publisher=Lulu Publishing Services |year=2017 |isbn=978-1483427010 |ol=30680683M |location=Morrisville |page=239}}</ref> The Republic's embrace of [[Hard currency|sound monetary policies]], especially its reliable [[Sequin (coin)|gold ducat]], underpinned growing confidence in Venetian trade and finance, further strengthening its position in international commerce.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zorzi |first=Alvise |title=La Repubblica del Leone. Storia di Venezia. |year=2001 |isbn=978-88-452-9136-4 |pages=164}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-17 |title=Ducato |url=https://numismatica-italiana.lamoneta.it/moneta/W-GDA/1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217142244/https://numismatica-italiana.lamoneta.it/moneta/W-GDA/1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-02-17 |access-date=2025-04-09 }}</ref> With the elimination of pirates along the [[Dalmatia|Dalmatian coast]], the city became a flourishing trade centre between Western Europe and the rest of the world, especially with the [[Byzantine Empire]] and [[Asia]], where its navy protected sea routes against piracy.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Piracy as an Islamic-Christian Interface in the Thirteenth Century |journal=Viator |volume=11 |page=165 |doi=10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301504 |year=1980 |last1=Burns |first1=Robert I|issn = 0083-5897 }}</ref>

The [[Republic of Venice]] seized a number of places on the eastern shores of the Adriatic before 1200, mostly for commercial reasons, because [[pirate]]s 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 [[Alps|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,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~gel115/salt.html |title=The importance of salt |last=Cowen |first=Richard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507083302/http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~GEL115/salt.html |archive-date=7 May 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> acquired control of most of the islands in the [[Aegean Sea|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, Italy|Verona]] rallied to the defence of Venetian sovereignty when it was threatened by invaders.

[[File:Bartolomeo Colleoni by Andrea del Verrocchio.jpg|thumb|Monument to [[Bartolomeo Colleoni]] (1400–1475), captain-general of the [[Republic of Venice]] from 1455 to 1475]]
Venice remained closely associated with Constantinople, being twice granted trading privileges in the Eastern Roman Empire, through the so-called [[golden bull]]s 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire |first=Judith |last=Herrin |date=2008 |page= |publisher=Penguin Adult |isbn=9780141031026}}</ref>

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 [[Horses of Saint Mark|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice |first=Thomas F. |last=Madden |date=2006 |page= |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801885396}}</ref>

The seizure of Constantinople proved as decisive a factor in ending the Byzantine Empire as the loss of the [[Anatolia]]n [[Theme (Byzantine administrative unit)|themes]], after [[Battle of Manzikert|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 [[Fall of Constantinople|in 1453]].
[[File:Venedig, Vedute Erhard Reuwichs in Peregrinationes in terram sanctam, Mainz 1486.jpg|thumb|left|500px|Venice veduta by [[Erhard Reuwich]] for the ''Peregrinationes in terram sanctam,'' Mainz 1486]]

[[File:San Giorgio Maggiore - Venice, Italy - panoramio.jpg|thumb|View of [[San Giorgio Maggiore]] from [[St. Mark's Campanile]]]]
Situated on the [[Adriatic Sea]], Venice had always traded extensively with the Byzantine Empire and the [[Middle East]]. 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 of Venice|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 "[[doges of Venice|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 [[oligarchy|oligarchical]] peers, to resign and retire into [[monastery|monastic]] seclusion, when they were felt to have been discredited by political failure.

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.

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 (Catholic canon law)|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]].<ref>{{cite CE1913 |wstitle=Pope Paul V |volume=11 |last=Loughlin |first=James Francis |short=1}}</ref>

The newly invented German [[printing press]] spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 15th century, and Venice was quick to adopt it. By 1482, Venice was the printing capital of the world; the leading printer was [[Aldus Manutius]], who invented paperback books that could be carried in a saddlebag.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nadeau |first=Barbie Latza |title=The Man Who Changed Reading Forever |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/aldus-manutius-printing-typeface-typography-italics-venice-180956855/ |date=6 November 2015 |access-date=28 February 2022 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> His ''Aldine Editions'' included translations of nearly all the known Greek manuscripts of the era.<ref>James Burke, ''Connections'' (Little, Brown and Co., 1978/1995), {{ISBN|978-0-316-11672-5}}, p.105</ref>

=== Decline ===
Venice's long decline started in the 15th century. Venice confronted the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the [[Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430)]] and sent ships to help defend [[Constantinople]] against the besieging Turks in 1453. After the [[Fall of Constantinople]], [[Sultan Mehmed II]] declared the first of a series of [[Ottoman-Venetian wars]] that cost Venice much of its eastern Mediterranean possessions. [[Vasco da Gama]]'s 1497–1499 voyage opened a sea route to [[India]] around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and destroyed Venice's monopoly. Venice's [[oared vessels]] were at a disadvantage when it came to traversing oceans, therefore Venice was left behind in the race for [[colonies]].<ref name="www.studenti.it">{{Cite web |title=Repubblica di Venezia: storia, cronologia e caratteristiche della Serenissima |trans-title=Republic of Venice: history, chronology and characteristics of the Serenissima |url=https://www.studenti.it/repubblica-venezia-storia-cronologia-caratteristiche-della-serenissima.html |last=Angione |first=Edoardo |date=15 July 2019 |access-date=7 July 2023 |work=Studenti |language=it}}</ref>

[[File:Gaspar van Wittel - View of the San Marco Basin.JPG|thumb|View of [[San Marco basin]] in 1697]]

The [[Black Death]] devastated Venice in 1348 and struck again between 1575 and 1577.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=William J. |year=2009 |title=A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World |pages=143 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=978-0802144164}}</ref> In three years, the [[plague (disease)|plague]] killed some 50,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |author=State of Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services |url=http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_plague.shtm |title=History of Plague |publisher=Dshs.state.tx.us |access-date=28 March 2009 |archive-date=11 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411041422/http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_plague.shtm |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1630, the [[Italian plague of 1629–31]] killed a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lindemann |first=Mary |year=1999 |title=Medicine and society in early modern Europe |pages=41 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521423546}}</ref>

Venice began to lose the position as a centre of [[international trade]] during the later part of the [[Renaissance]] as Portugal became Europe's principal intermediary in the trade with the East, striking at the very foundation of Venice's great wealth. France and Spain fought for [[hegemony]] over Italy in the [[Italian Wars]], marginalising its political influence. However, Venice remained a major exporter of agricultural products and until the mid-18th century, a significant manufacturing centre.<ref name="www.studenti.it" />

=== Modern age ===
{{Wide image|Panorama of Venice 1870s.jpg|3000px|align-cap=center|1870s panoramic view of Venice}}

The Republic of Venice lost its independence when [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] conquered Venice on 12 May 1797 during the [[War of the First Coalition]]. Napoleon was seen as something of a liberator by the city's Jewish population. He removed the gates of the [[Venetian Ghetto|Ghetto]] and ended the restrictions on when and where Jews could live and travel in the city.

Venice became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] on 12 October 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on 18 January 1798. Venice was taken from Austria by the [[Treaty of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of Pressburg]] in 1805 and became part of [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy]]. It was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]]. In 1848 a revolt briefly re-established the [[Repubblica di San Marco|Venetian republic]] under [[Daniele Manin]], but this was crushed in 1849. In 1866, after the [[Third Italian War of Independence]], Venice, along with the rest of the Veneto, became part of the newly created [[Kingdom of Italy]].

From the middle of the 18th century, [[Trieste]] and papal [[Ancona]], both of which became free ports, competed with Venice more and more economically. Habsburg Trieste in particular boomed and increasingly served trade via the [[Suez Canal]], which opened in 1869, between Asia and Central Europe, while Venice very quickly lost its competitive edge and commercial strength.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kretschmayr |first=Heinrich |author-link=Heinrich Kretschmayr |title=Geschichte von Venedig |volume=3 |date=2017 |page=450}}</ref>

[[File:View of the Grand Canal from Rialto to Ca'Foscari.jpg|thumb|[[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]] from Rialto to Ca' Foscari (2016)]]

During [[World War II]], the historic city was largely free from attack, the only aggressive effort of note being [[Operation Bowler]], a successful [[Royal Air Force]] precision strike on the German naval operations in the city in March 1945. The targets were destroyed with virtually no architectural damage inflicted on the city itself.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1508776/Group-Captain-George-Westlake.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1508776/Group-Captain-George-Westlake.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Group Captain George Westlake |date=26 January 2006 |access-date=13 June 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> However, the industrial areas in Mestre and Marghera and the railway lines to Padua, Trieste, and Trento were [[Oil Campaign chronology of World War II|repeatedly bombed]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Patrick G. Skelly, Pocasset MA |url=http://www.milhist.net/usaaf/mto.html |title=US Army Air Force Operations Mediterranean Theater |website=Mil Hist |date=6 May 2005 |access-date=27 July 2010 |archive-date=23 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823215910/http://www.milhist.net/usaaf/mto.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 29 April 1945, a force of [[British military|British]] and [[2nd New Zealand Division|New Zealand]] troops of the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]], under Lieutenant General [[Bernard Freyberg|Freyberg]], liberated Venice, which had been a hotbed of anti-Mussolini Italian partisan activity.<ref>{{cite book |title=After Hitler: The Last Days of the Second World War in Europe |first=Michael |last=Jones |date=2015 |page= |publisher=John Murray Press |isbn=9781848544970}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Patrick G. Skelly, Pocasset MA |url=http://www.milhist.net/history/onemoreriver.html |title=New Zealand troops relieve Venice |website=Mil Hist |date=21 July 1945 |access-date=28 March 2009 |archive-date=21 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921053626/http://www.milhist.net/history/onemoreriver.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Venice was listed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1987, inscribing it as "Venice and its Lagoon".

== Geography ==
[[File:Space Station Flight Over Venice.jpg|thumb|right|Venice viewed from the [[International Space Station]]]]

Venice is located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region. The city is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by 438 bridges. The historic center of Venice is divided into six districts, or sestieri, which are named [[Cannaregio]], Castello, [[Dorsoduro]], San Marco, San Polo, and Santa Croce.

Venice sits atop alluvial silt washed into the sea by the rivers flowing eastward from the Alps across the [[Veneto]] plain, with the silt being stretched into long banks, or ''lidi'', by the action of the current flowing around the head of the [[Adriatic Sea]] from east to west.<ref>{{EB1911 |noprescript=1 |wstitle=Venice |volume=27 |page=995}}</ref>

=== Subsidence ===
[[Subsidence]], the gradual lowering of the surface of Venice, has contributed – along with other factors – to the seasonal ''[[Acqua alta]]'' ("high water") when the city's lowest lying surfaces may be covered at high tide.

{{anchor|Foundations}}

==== Building foundations ====
Those fleeing barbarian invasions who found refuge on the sandy islands of Torcello, Iesolo, and Malamocco, in this coastal lagoon, learned to build by driving closely spaced [[Deep foundation|piles]] consisting of the trunks of [[alder]] trees, a wood noted for its water resistance, into the mud and sand,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/alder.html |title=Mythology and Folklore of the Alder |last=Kendall |first=Paul |date=25 August 2010 |website=[[Trees for Life (Scotland)|Trees for Life]] |access-date=6 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805135339/http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/alder.html |archive-date=5 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cvni.org/treenursery/trees/alder |title=Alder – Alnus glutinosa |publisher=Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland |access-date=6 August 2011}}</ref> until they reached a much harder layer of compressed [[clay]]. Building foundations rested on plates of [[Istrian stone|Istrian limestone]] placed on top of the piles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Standish |first=Dominic |chapter=Barriers to barriers: why environmental precaution has delayed mobile floodgates to protect Venice |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/441655 |editor-last=Okonski |editor-first=Kendra |title=Adapt or die: the science, politics and economics of climate change |page=40 |year=2003 |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1-86197-795-3 |access-date=28 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bressanin |first=Anna |date=2025-03-26 |title=Mud, water and wood: The system that kept a 1604-year-old city afloat |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250324-the-ancient-forest-that-supports-venice |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==== Flooding ====
{{Update|part=section|date=February 2024|reason=[[MOSE]] information does not cover anything after 2020, such as the 2023 completion date moved to 2025}}

[[File:AcquaAlta1 12 2008 3.JPG|thumb|''[[Acqua alta]]'' ("high water") in Venice, 2008]]{{Main|Sea level rise in Venice}}
Between autumn and early spring, the city is often threatened by flood [[tide]]s pushing in from the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venice/sieg_nf.html |title=NOVA {{pipe}} Sinking City of Venice {{pipe}} Venice Under Siege (non-Flash) {{pipe}} PBS |website=PBS}}</ref> This created an ever-deeper lagoon environment. Additionally, the lowest part of Venice, [[St Mark's Basilica]], is only {{convert|64|cm|in}} above sea level, and one of the most flood-prone parts of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Hannah |date=9 August 2021 |title=Venice floods: Watch tourists wade through knee-deep water |url=https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/08/09/venice-is-flooding-again-watch-tourists-wade-through-knee-deep-water |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=[[euronews]] |language=en}}</ref>

In 1604, to defray the cost of flood relief, Venice introduced what could be considered the first example of a stamp tax.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Iwu |first1=Rita |title=Stamp Tax |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/terms/s/stamp-tax |website=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=26 October 2022 |language=en |date=19 May 2021}}</ref> When the revenue fell short of expectations in 1608, Venice introduced [[Postal stationery|paper]], with the superscription "AQ" and imprinted instructions, which was to be used for "letters to officials". At first, this was to be a temporary tax, but it remained in effect until the fall of the Republic in 1797. Shortly after the introduction of the tax, Spain produced similar paper for general taxation purposes, and the practice spread to other countries.

During the 20th century, when many [[artesian well]]s were sunk into the periphery of the lagoon to draw water for local industry, Venice began to [[subsidence|subside]]. It was realized that extraction of water from the [[aquifer]] was the cause. The sinking has slowed markedly since artesian wells were banned in the 1960s. However, the city is still threatened by more frequent low-level floods – the ''[[Acqua alta]]'', that rise to a height of several centimetres over its [[quay]]s – regularly following certain tides. In many old houses, staircases once used to unload goods are now flooded, rendering the former ground floor uninhabitable.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Studies indicate that the city continues sinking at a relatively slow rate of 1–2{{nbsp}}mm per year;<ref>{{cite report |last1=Bock |first1=Y. |display-authors=etal |title=Recent Subsidence of the Venice Lagoon from Continuous GPS and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar |url=http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/files/venise-senfonce.pdf |date=2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124453/http://sciences.blogs.liberation.fr/files/venise-senfonce.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/content/la-subsidenza-e-leustatismo |title=La subsidenza e l'eustatismo |language=it, en |trans-title=Subsidence and eustatism |date=25 March 2022 |website=City of Venice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506212333/https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/content/la-subsidenza-e-leustatismo |archive-date=6 May 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> therefore, the state of alert has not been revoked.

In May 2003, Italian Prime Minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]] inaugurated the [[MOSE Project]] ({{Langx|it|Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico}}), an experimental model for evaluating the performance of hollow floatable gates, expected to be completed by the end of 2025;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220927-italys-plan-to-save-venice-from-sinking |title=Italy's plan to save Venice from sinking |website=BBC |last=Phelan |first=Joseph |date=28 September 2022 |access-date=30 September 2022}}</ref> the idea is to fix a series of 78 hollow [[pontoon (boat)|pontoons]] to the sea bed across the three entrances to the lagoon. When tides are predicted to rise above {{Convert|110|cm}}, the pontoons will be filled with air, causing them to float on lagoon side while hinged at sea floor on seaside, thus blocking the incoming water from the Adriatic Sea.<ref>{{cite web |title=MOSE Project, Venice, Venetian Lagoon |url=https://www.water-technology.net/projects/mose-project/ |date=2019 |website=Water Technology |access-date=3 April 2019}}</ref> This engineering work was due to be completed by 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title='Moses project' to secure future of Venice |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3629387/Moses-project-to-secure-future-of-Venice.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3629387/Moses-project-to-secure-future-of-Venice.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |date=11 January 2012 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=11 January 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A [[Reuters]] report stated that the MOSE Project attributed the delay to "corruption scandals".<ref>{{cite web |last=Bastianello |first=Riccardo |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6161825/venice-italy-flooding-disaster/ |title=Venice mayor declares disaster as city hit with 2nd-highest tide in history |work=[[Global News]] |date=13 November 2019}}</ref> The project is not guaranteed to be successful and the cost has been very high, with as much as approximately €2&nbsp;billion of the cost lost to corruption.<ref name="NatgeoWorrall201610" />

According to a spokesman for the National Trust of Italy ([[Fondo Ambiente Italiano]]):<ref>{{cite web |last=Gerard-Sharp |first=Lisa |url=http://www.natgeotraveller.co.uk/destinations/europe/italy/is-venice-going-under/ |title=Is Venice going under? |date=16 August 2016 |website=National Geographic}}</ref>

<blockquote>
Mose is a pharaonic project that should have cost €800m [£675m] but will cost at least €7bn [£6bn]. If the barriers are closed at only 90 cm of high water, most of St Mark's will be flooded anyway; but if closed at very high levels only, then people will wonder at the logic of spending such sums on something that didn't solve the problem. And pressure will come from the cruise ships to keep the gates open.
</blockquote>

On 13 November 2019, Venice was flooded when waters peaked at {{convert|1.87|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, the highest tide since 1966 (1.94 m).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50401308 |title=Venice floods: Climate change behind highest tide in 50 years, says mayor |agency=BBC |date=13 November 2019}}</ref> More than 80% of the city was covered by water, which damaged cultural heritage sites, including more than 50 churches, leading to tourists cancelling their visits.<ref name="BBC Flood">{{cite news |last1=Hill |first1=Jenny |title=Flooded Venice battles new tidal surge |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50430855 |access-date=17 November 2019 |agency=BBC |date=15 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harlan |first1=Chico |last2=Pitrelli |first2=Stefano |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/venice-partly-submerged-by-highest-tides-in-half-a-century/2019/11/13/fa36566e-05fa-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html |title=Venice submerged by highest tides in half a century |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=13 November 2019}}</ref> The planned [[flood barrier]] would have prevented this incident according to various sources, including Marco Piana, the head of conservation at St Mark's Basilica.<ref name="GuardianGiuffrida201911">{{cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |title='An apocalypse happened': Venice counts cost of devastating floods |date=13 November 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/13/an-apocalypse-happened-venice-counts-cost-of-devastating-floods |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 November 2019 |quote=Work began in 2003 but has been dogged by delays and myriad issues, including a corruption scandal that emerged in 2014. The Venice mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, promised on Wednesday that the flood barrier would be completed.}}</ref> The mayor promised that work on the flood barrier would continue,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/venice-flooding-city-underwater-right-wing-mayor-climate-change-1471438 |title=Venice flooding sees more than 85 percent of city underwater as right-wing mayor blames climate change |last=Georgiou |first=Aristos |date=13 November 2019 |website=[[Newsweek]] |language=en |access-date=14 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="GuardianGiuffrida201911" /> and the Prime Minister announced that the government would be accelerating the project.<ref name="BBC Flood" />

The city's mayor, [[Luigi Brugnaro]], blamed the floods on [[climate change]]. The [[Palazzo Ferro Fini|chambers]] of the [[Regional Council of Veneto]] began to be flooded around 10 pm, two minutes after the council rejected a plan to combat global warming.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mezzofiore |first1=Gianluca |title=Italian council is flooded immediately after rejecting measures on climate change |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/14/europe/veneto-council-climate-change-floods-trnd-intl-scli/index.html |access-date=17 November 2019 |agency=CNN |date=15 November 2019}}</ref> One of the effects of climate change is [[sea level rise]] which causes an increase in frequency and magnitude of floodings in the city.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Calma |first1=Justine |title=Venice's historic flooding blamed on human failure and climate change |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/14/20963878/venice-high-tide-climate-change-flood-barrier-sea-levels |access-date=17 November 2019 |agency=[[The Verge]] |date=14 November 2019}}</ref> A ''[[Washington Post]]'' report provided a more thorough analysis:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harlan |first1=Chico |last2=Pitrelli |first2=Stefano |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/venice-partly-submerged-by-highest-tides-in-half-a-century/2019/11/13/fa36566e-05fa-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html |title=Venice submerged by highest tides in half a century |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=13 November 2019 |quote=The [increased flooding] is a trend that jibes with the extremization of climate", said Paolo Canestrelli, founder and former head of the municipality's Tide Monitoring and Forecast Centre. "If we look at the course of history, we have documents dating back to 1872, and we can see that these phenomena didn't used to exist.}}</ref><blockquote>"The sea level has been rising even more rapidly in Venice than in other parts of the world. At the same time, the city is sinking, the result of tectonic plates shifting below the Italian coast. Those factors together, along with the more frequent extreme weather events associated with climate change, contribute to floods."</blockquote>

[[Henk Ovink]], an expert on flooding, told [[CNN]] that, while environmental factors are part of the problem, "historic floods in Venice are not only a result of the climate crisis but poor infrastructure and mismanagement".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/11/19/henk-ovink-amanpour-climate-crisis-water-venice-floods.cnn |title=Historic floods in Venice a 'man-made disaster' |date=11 July 2007 |work=CNN |access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>

The government of Italy committed to providing 20&nbsp;million euros in funding to help the city repair the most urgent aspects although Brugnaro's estimate of the total damage was "hundreds of millions"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venice-flood-tide-st-mark-s-square-1.5360583 |title=Venice flooded again 3 days after near-record high tide |date=15 November 2019 |work=[[CBC News]] |access-date=16 November 2019 |quote=Venice's mayor said the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros and blamed climate change for the "dramatic situation" in the historic city. He called for the speedy completion of the city's long-delayed Moses flood defence project.}}</ref> to at least 1&nbsp;billion euros.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barry |first1=Colleen |title=St. Mark's Square in Venice Reopens After Flooding, but Water Remains High |url=https://time.com/5731019/st-marks-square-venice-reopens/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116171420/https://time.com/5731019/st-marks-square-venice-reopens/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 November 2019 |access-date=17 November 2019 |agency=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=16 November 2019}}</ref>

On 3 October 2020, the MOSE was activated for the first time in response to a predicted high tide event, preventing some of the low-lying parts of the city (in particular the Piazza San Marco) from being flooded.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Silvestri |first=Manuel |date=3 October 2020 |title=Mose flood barrier finally holds the waters back for fragile Venice |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-weather-venice/flood-barrier-successfully-protects-venice-from-high-tide-idUSKBN26O0AZ |access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref>

=== Climate ===
According to the [[Köppen climate classification]], Venice has a mid-latitude, four season [[humid subtropical climate]] (''Cfa''), with cool, damp winters and warm, humid summers. The 24-hour average temperature in January is {{convert|3.3|C|F|1}}, and for July this figure is {{convert|23.0|C|F|1}}. Precipitation is spread relatively evenly throughout the year, and averages {{convert|748|mm|in}}; snow is not uncommon between late November and early March. During the most severe winters, the canals and parts of the lagoon can freeze, but with the warming trend of the past 30–40 years, the occurrence has become rarer.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sibilla |first=Marco |title=Laguna ghiacciata |trans-title=Frozen lagoon |url=http://www.meteovenezia.net/laguna-ghiacciata.html |website=Meteo Venezia |language=it |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref>

{{Weather box
| location                = Venice, elevation: {{convert|2|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1961–present)
| metric first            = yes
| single line             = yes

| Jan record high C       = 17.0
| Feb record high C       = 22.0
| Mar record high C       = 25.3
| Apr record high C       = 27.2
| May record high C       = 31.5
| Jun record high C       = 35.2
| Jul record high C       = 36.6
| Aug record high C       = 36.5
| Sep record high C       = 32.4
| Oct record high C       = 27.3
| Nov record high C       = 23.0
| Dec record high C       = 16.7
| year record high C      = 36.6

|Jan high C = 7.5
|Feb high C = 9.2
|Mar high C = 13.2
|Apr high C = 17.4
|May high C = 22.0
|Jun high C = 26.0
|Jul high C = 28.5
|Aug high C = 28.4
|Sep high C = 23.8
|Oct high C = 18.5
|Nov high C = 12.9
|Dec high C = 8.3
|Jan mean C = 3.8
|Feb mean C = 5.0
|Mar mean C = 8.9
|Apr mean C = 13.0
|May mean C = 17.7
|Jun mean C = 21.7
|Jul mean C = 23.8
|Aug mean C = 23.7
|Sep mean C = 19.3
|Oct mean C = 14.5
|Nov mean C = 9.3
|Dec mean C = 4.7
|Jan low C = 0.1
|Feb low C = 0.8
|Mar low C = 4.5
|Apr low C = 8.7
|May low C = 13.5
|Jun low C = 17.4
|Jul low C = 19.2
|Aug low C = 18.9
|Sep low C = 14.8
|Oct low C = 10.5
|Nov low C = 5.7
|Dec low C = 1.0

| Jan record low C        = -13.5
| Feb record low C        = -12.6
| Mar record low C        = -7.4
| Apr record low C        = -0.8
| May record low C        = 2.0
| Jun record low C        = 7.0
| Jul record low C        = 10.2
| Aug record low C        = 10.0
| Sep record low C        = 5.0
| Oct record low C        = -1.1
| Nov record low C        = -8.8
| Dec record low C        = -12.5
| year record low C       = -13.5

| precipitation colour    = green
| Jan precipitation mm    = 40.2
| Feb precipitation mm    = 56.5
| Mar precipitation mm    = 60.5
| Apr precipitation mm    = 70.5
| May precipitation mm    = 80.2
| Jun precipitation mm    = 64.2
| Jul precipitation mm    = 57.9
| Aug precipitation mm    = 65.8
| Sep precipitation mm    = 73.3
| Oct precipitation mm    = 72.0
| Nov precipitation mm    = 71.5
| Dec precipitation mm    = 49.8

| Jan humidity            = 81
| Feb humidity            = 77
| Mar humidity            = 75
| Apr humidity            = 75
| May humidity            = 73
| Jun humidity            = 74
| Jul humidity            = 71
| Aug humidity            = 72
| Sep humidity            = 75
| Oct humidity            = 77
| Nov humidity            = 79
| Dec humidity            = 81

| Jan precipitation days  = 6.0
| Feb precipitation days  = 5.2
| Mar precipitation days  = 5.7
| Apr precipitation days  = 8.3
| May precipitation days  = 8.2
| Jun precipitation days  = 8.6
| Jul precipitation days  = 5.9
| Aug precipitation days  = 6.1
| Sep precipitation days  = 5.9
| Oct precipitation days  = 6.7
| Nov precipitation days  = 5.8
| Dec precipitation days  = 5.9

|Jan sun = 80.6
|Feb sun = 107.4
|Mar sun = 142.6
|Apr sun = 174.0
|May sun = 229.4
|Jun sun = 243.0
|Jul sun = 288.3
|Aug sun = 257.3
|Sep sun = 198.0
|Oct sun = 151.9
|Nov sun = 87.0
|Dec sun = 77.5
|year sun = 2037.0

| Jand sun                = 2.6
| Febd sun                = 3.8
| Mard sun                = 4.6
| Aprd sun                = 5.8
| Mayd sun                = 7.4
| Jund sun                = 8.1
| Juld sun                = 9.3
| Augd sun                = 8.3
| Sepd sun                = 6.6
| Octd sun                = 4.9
| Novd sun                = 2.9
| Decd sun                = 2.5

| Jan light               = 9.2
| Feb light               = 10.4
| Mar light               = 12.0
| Apr light               = 13.6
| May light               = 14.9
| Jun light               = 15.6
| Jul light               = 15.3
| Aug light               = 14.1
| Sep light               = 12.5
| Oct light               = 10.9
| Nov light               = 9.5
| Dec light               = 8.8

| Jan percentsun          = 29
| Feb percentsun          = 38
| Mar percentsun          = 38
| Apr percentsun          = 41
| May percentsun          = 49
| Jun percentsun          = 51
| Jul percentsun          = 62
| Aug percentsun          = 59
| Sep percentsun          = 51
| Oct percentsun          = 45
| Nov percentsun          = 29
| Dec percentsun          = 28

| Jan uv                  = 1
| Feb uv                  = 2
| Mar uv                  = 3
| Apr uv                  = 5
| May uv                  = 7
| Jun uv                  = 8
| Jul uv                  = 8
| Aug uv                  = 7
| Sep uv                  = 5
| Oct uv                  = 3
| Nov uv                  = 2
| Dec uv                  = 1

| source 1                = Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230917192649/https://valori-climatici-normali.isprambiente.it/ |archive-date=17 September 2023 |url=https://valori-climatici-normali.isprambiente.it/ |title=Valori climatici normali in Italia |trans-title=Normal climate values in Italy |work=Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref>[[NOAA]]<ref name = NOAA>
{{cite web 
|url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0216/0253808/3.3/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Italy/CSV/Venezia_Tessera_16105.csv
| title = WMO Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Venezia Tessera
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = 29 June 2024}}</ref>
| source 2                = MeteoAM (sun and humidity 1961–1990),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clima.meteoam.it/AtlanteClim2/pdf/(105)Venezia%20Tessera.pdf |title=Venezia/Tessera |publisher=Italian Air Force National Meteorological Service |access-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204702/http://clima.meteoam.it/AtlanteClim2/pdf/(105)Venezia%20Tessera.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://clima.meteoam.it/viewClino.php?type=File&station=105&name_station=Venezia%20Tessera |title=Tabella CLINO |publisher=MeteoAM |access-date=22 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810005403/http://clima.meteoam.it/viewClino.php?type=File&station=105&name_station=Venezia%20Tessera |archive-date=10 August 2016}}</ref> Weather Atlas (daylight, UV)<ref name="Weather Atlas">{{cite web |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/italy/venice-climate |title=Venice, Italy – Monthly weather forecast and Climate data |publisher=Weather Atlas |access-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228053329/https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/italy/venice-climate |archive-date=28 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Temperature estreme in Toscana (extremes)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://climaintoscana.altervista.org/italia/stazioni-wmo/venezia-tessera/ |language=it |title=Venezia Tessera |publisher=Temperature estreme in Toscana |access-date=31 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831032528/http://climaintoscana.altervista.org/italia/stazioni-wmo/venezia-tessera/ |archive-date=31 August 2023}}</ref>
}}

{{Weather box
| location                = Venice (sea temperatures)
| metric first            = yes
| single line             = yes

| Jan mean C              = 10.0
| Feb mean C              = 8.8
| Mar mean C              = 9.9
| Apr mean C              = 13.4
| May mean C              = 18.6
| Jun mean C              = 23.4
| Jul mean C              = 25.4
| Aug mean C              = 25.4
| Sep mean C              = 23.6
| Oct mean C              = 19.3
| Nov mean C              = 16.0
| Dec mean C              = 13.3

| source 1                = Weather Atlas<ref name="Weather Atlas" />
}}

== Demographics ==
{{Historical populations|3=1871|4=164965|5=1881|6=165802|7=1901|8=189368|9=1911|10=208463|11=1921|12=223373|13=1931|14=250327|15=1936|16=264027|17=1951|18=310034|19=1961|20=339671|21=1971|22=354475|23=1981|24=336081|25=1991|26=298532|27=2001|28=271073|29=2011|30=261362|31=2021|32=251944|align=right|source=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Popolazione residente e presente dei comuni. Censimenti dal 1861 al 1971|trans-title=Resident and present population of the municipalities. Censuses from 1861 to 1971|url=https://ebiblio.istat.it/digibib/Censimenti%20popolazione/Censimentipopolazioneresidentedal1861/PUV0027177Pop_res_pres_cens_1861_1971_Tomo1.pdf|date=1971-10-24|lang=it|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dashboard Permanent census of population and housing|url=https://esploradati.censimentopopolazione.istat.it/databrowser/#/en/censtest/dashboards|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Italy)|ISTAT]]}}</ref>|cols=1}}The city was one of the largest in Europe in the [[High Middle Ages]], with a population of 60,000 in AD 1000; 80,000 in 1200; and rising up to 110,000–180,000 in 1300. In the mid-1500s the city's population was 170,000, and by 1600 it approached 200,000.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC&pg=PA266 |title=Urban World History |isbn=9782760522091 |last1=Tellier |first1=Luc-Normand |year=2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Dursteler |editor-first=Eric |editor-link=Eric R. Dursteler |title=A Companion to Venetian History, 1400–1797 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ascAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA257 |date=2013 |chapter=The Venetian Economy |series=Brill's Companions to European History |volume=4 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-25252-3 |page=257}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hK-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 |title=Pre-Industrial Cities and Technology |isbn=9781134636204 |last1=Chant |first1=Colin |last2=Goodman |first2=David |date=8 November 2005 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Abu-Lughod |first=Janet L. |author-link=Janet Abu-Lughod |date=1989 |title=Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350 |url=https://archive.org/details/beforeeuropeanhe00abul_1/page/125 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=125}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Spruyt |first=Hendrik |author-link=Hendrik Spruyt |date=1994 |title=The Sovereign State and Its Competitors: An Analysis of Systems Change |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jx2Q4hxT5HAC&pg=PA132 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=132 |isbn=9780691029108 |lccn=lc94010759}}</ref>

In 2021, there were 254,850 people residing in the Comune of Venice (the population figure includes 50,434 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico), 177,621 in Terraferma (the mainland); and 26,795 on other islands in the lagoon).<ref name="population 2021">{{cite web |url=https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/node/40751 |title=Serie Storica Popolazione – Anni dal 1871 al 2021 |date=17 February 2022 |language=it |website=City of Venice |access-date=6 August 2022 |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806163829/https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/node/40751 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 47.8% of the population in 2021 were male and 52.2% were female; minors (ages 18 and younger) were 14.7% of the population compared to elderly people (ages 65 and older) who numbered 27.9%. This compared with the Italian average of 16.7% and 23.5%, respectively. The average age of Venice residents was 48.6 compared to the Italian average of 45.9. In the five years between 2016 and 2021, the population of Venice declined by 2.7%, while Italy as a whole declined by 2.2%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tuttitalia.it/veneto/40-venezia/statistiche/ |title=Statistiche demografiche Venezia |trans-title=Demographic statistics Venice |language=it |work=Tuttitalia |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref> The population in the historic old city declined much faster: from about 120,000 in 1980 to about 60,000 in 2009,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Newman |first=Cathy |date=August 2009 |title=Vanishing Venice |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/venice |url-access=subscription |magazine=National Geographic |quote=Gherardo Ortalli, a professor of medieval history [...] says [...] 'When I arrived 30 years ago, the population was 120,000. Now it is less than 60,000.'}}</ref> and to 50,000 in 2021.<ref name="population 2021" /> {{As of|2021}}, 84.2% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant groups include: 7,814 (3.1%) [[Bangladeshis]], 6,258 (2.5%) [[Romanians]], 4,054 (1.6%) [[Moldovans]], 4,014 (1.6%) [[Chinese people|Chinese]], and 2,514 (1%) [[Ukrainians]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tuttitalia.it/veneto/40-venezia/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri-2018/ |title=Cittadini stranieri Venezia 2021 |language=it |publisher=Tuttitalia |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>

Venice is predominantly [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] (85.0% of the resident population in the area of the [[Patriarchate of Venice]] in 2022<ref>{{cite web |last=Cheney |first=David M. |title=Patriarchate of Venezia (Venice) |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dvene.html |website=[[Catholic-Hierarchy.org|Catholic-Hierarchy]] |access-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302071925/https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dvene.html |archive-date=2 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>), but because of the long-standing relationship with [[Constantinople]], there is also a noticeable [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] presence; and as a result of immigration, there is now a large [[Islam|Muslim]] community (about 25,000 or 9.5% of city population in 2018<ref>{{cite news |last=Sperandio |first=Alvise |title=La Comunità islamica: "Vogliamo la moschea" (Venezia) |trans-title=The Islamic Community: "We want the mosque" (Venice) |url=https://www.ilgazzettino.it/nordest/venezia/venezia_moschea-4060778.html |work=[[Il Gazzettino]] |date=24 October 2018 |access-date=15 November 2019 |language=it |quote=25 mila persone di fede mussulmana che risiedono in città |trans-quote=25 thousand people of Muslim faith who reside in the city}}</ref>) and some [[Hindu]], and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] inhabitants.

Since 1991, the Church of [[San Giorgio dei Greci]] in Venice has become the [[Episcopal see|see]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta|Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta and Exarchate of Southern Europe]], a [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine-rite]] diocese under the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esarcato.it/concelebrazione-dei-vescovi-ortodossi-ditalia-a-venezia/?lang=en |title=Italian Orthodox Bishops concelebrating in Venice. |access-date=24 April 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215174526/http://www.ortodossia.it/Home.it.htm |archive-date=15 December 2008}}</ref>

There is also a historic [[History of the Jews in Venice|Jewish community]] in Venice. The [[Venetian Ghetto]] was the area in which Jews were compelled to live under the Venetian Republic. The word ''ghetto'' (''ghèto''), originally [[Venetian language|Venetian]], is now found in many languages. [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'', written in the late 16th century, features [[Shylock]], a Venetian Jew. The first complete and uncensored printed edition of the [[Talmud]] was printed in Venice by [[Daniel Bomberg]] in 1523. During [[World War II]], Jews were rounded up in Venice and deported to [[extermination camp]]s. Since the end of the war, the Jewish population of Venice has declined from 1500 to about 500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Venice |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/venice |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810073724/https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/venice |url-status=dead}}</ref> Only around 30 Jews live in the former ghetto, which houses the city's major Jewish institutions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venice, Italy Jewish History Tour |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Venice.html |work=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |access-date=2 March 2024 |quote=Today Venice has a Jewish population of about 500 peoples, only 30 of them live in the former ghetto. The ghetto houses all of the city’s major Jewish institutions.}}</ref> In modern times, Venice has an [[eruv]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ghetto.it/ghetto/en/foto.asp?padre=3&figlio=1 |title=Venetian Ghetto – Eruv in Venice |last=Foà |first=Ruben |work=www.ghetto.it |language=en |access-date=2 August 2010 |archive-date=27 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427170517/http://www.ghetto.it/ghetto/en/foto.asp?padre=3&figlio=1 |url-status=dead}}</ref> used by the Jewish community.

== Government ==
=== Local and regional government ===
{{See also|Mayor of Venice}}
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Palazzo Corner della Ca' Granda Canal Grande Venezia.jpg
| caption1          = [[Palazzo Corner della Ca' Grande|Palazzo Corner]] is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Venice.
| image2            = Palazzo Ferro Fini Canal Grande Venezia.jpg
| caption2          = [[Palazzo Ferro Fini]] is the seat of the [[Regional Council of Veneto]].
}}

The legislative body of the Comune is the City Council (''Consiglio Comunale''), which is composed of 36 councillors elected every five years with a proportional system, contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Administration (''Giunta Comunale''), composed of 12 [[Assessor (Italy)|assessors]] nominated and presided over by a directly elected [[Mayor of Venice|Mayor]].

Venice was governed by [[Centre-left coalition (Italy)|centre-left]] parties from the early 1990s until the 2010s, when the Mayor started to be elected directly. Its region, [[Veneto]], has long been a conservative stronghold, with the coalition between the regionalist [[Lega Nord]] and the [[Centre-right coalition (Italy)|centre-right]] [[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]] winning absolute majorities of the electorate in many elections at local, national, and regional levels.

The current mayor of Venice is [[Luigi Brugnaro]], a centre-right independent businessman who is currently serving his second term in office.

The municipality of Venice is also subdivided into six administrative boroughs (''municipalità''). Each borough is governed by a council (''Consiglio'') and a president, elected every five years. The urban organization is dictated by Article 114 of the [[Constitution of Italy|Italian Constitution]]. The boroughs have the power to advise the Mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics (environment, construction, public health, local markets) and exercise the functions delegated to them by the City Council; in addition, they are supplied with autonomous funding to finance local activities.

[[File:Venezia - mappa municipalità.png|thumb|right|Boroughs:
{{Legend|#0000fe|Venezia (Historic city)–Murano–Burano}}
{{Legend|#fe0000|Lido–Pellestrina}}
{{Legend|yellow|Favaro Veneto}}
{{Legend|#008001|Mestre–Carpenedo}}
{{Legend|#ff8041|Chirignago–Zelarino}}
{{Legend|#ff00fe|Marghera}}
]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Boroughs
|-
!
! Borough
! Place
! Population
! President
! colspan="2" | Party
! Term
|-
! 1
| Venezia (Historic city)–[[Murano]]–[[Burano]]
| Lagoon area
| 69,136
| Marco Borghi
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Democratic Party (Italy)}};" |
| [[Democratic Party (Italy)|PD]]
| 2020–2025
|-
! 2
| [[Lido di Venezia|Lido]]–[[Pellestrina]]
| Lagoon area
| 21,664
| Emilio Guberti
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Independent (politician)|Ind]]
| 2020–2025
|-
! 3
| [[Favaro Veneto]]
| Mainland (''terraferma''){{efn|Annexed with a Royal Decree to the municipality of Venice in 1926.}}
| 23,615
| Marco Bellato
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Independent (politician)|Ind]]
| 2020–2025
|-
! 4
| [[Mestre]]–Carpenedo
| Mainland (''terraferma'')
| 88,592
| Raffaele Pasqualetto
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Lega Nord}};" |
| [[Lega Nord|LN]]
| 2020–2025
|-
! 5
| Chirignago–Zelarino
| Mainland (''terraferma'')
| 38,179
| Francesco Tagliapietra
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Independent (politician)|Ind]]
| 2020–2025
|-
! 6
| [[Marghera]]
| Mainland (''terraferma'')
| 28,466
| Teodoro Marolo
| style="background-color: {{Party color|Independent (politician)}};" |
| [[Independent (politician)|Ind]]
| 2020–2025
|-
|}
;Notes
{{Notelist|close}}

=== ''Sestieri'' ===
The historic city of Venice has historically been divided into six ''[[sestiere|sestieri]]'', and is made up of a total of 127 individual islands, most of which are separated from their neighbors by narrow channels only.<ref>[https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121715-123903/unrestricted/VE15-Isles_Report.pdf Georges Gauthier, David McDonald, Jenna O’Connell, Nick Panzarino: Exploring the City of Islands: Interactive Resources for Analyzing the Islands of Venice. Worcester 2015], linking to [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_p7yl-zJQKleVdxNFQzUk1RQlk?resourcekey=0-StHTtIWfeqspBpUCDxTviQ Google Drive, darin ''ICQ, Spreadsheets, VE15-Isles_Isles_Lagoon_data'']</ref>

[[File:Sestieri di Venezia.svg|thumb|right|''Sestieri'':
{{Legend|purple|Cannaregio}}
{{Legend|blue|Castello}}
{{Legend|teal|San Marco}}
{{Legend|yellow|Dorsoduro}}
{{Legend|lime|San Polo}}
{{Legend|red|Santa Croce}}
]]
{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable sortable col2center col3right col4right col5right col6right"
|+ ''Sestiere''
|-
! ''Sestiere'' || {{Abbr|Abbr.|Abbreviation}} || Area ({{Abbrlink|ha|Hectare}}) || {{Abbr|Pop.|Population}} (2011-10-09) || Density || {{Abbr|No.|Number}} of islands
|-
| [[Cannaregio]] || CN || 121.36 || 16.950 || 13.967 || 33
|-
| [[Castello, Venice|Castello]] || CS || 173.97 || 14.813 || 8.514 || 26
|-
| [[San Marco (sestiere of Venice)|San Marco]] || SM || 54.48 || 4.145 || 7.552 || 16
|-
| [[Dorsoduro]] || DD || 161.32 || 13.398 || 8.305 || 31
|-
| [[San Polo]] || SP || 46.70 || 9.183 || 19.665 || 7
|-
| [[Santa Croce (Venice)|Santa Croce]] || SC || 88.57 || 2.257 || 2.548 || 14
|- class="sortbottom" style="background-color: #ddd;"
| Historic centre || {{n/a}} || 646.80{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} || 60.746 || 9.392 || 127
|}

Each ''sestiere'' is now a statistical and historical area without any degree of autonomy.<ref name="imagesofvenice.com">{{Cite web |last=Coulling |first=Ian |date=2 November 2020 |title=Districts & Attractions – Introduction |url=https://imagesofvenice.com/districts-and-attractions-introduction/ |access-date=7 July 2023 |website=Images of Venice |language=en-US}}</ref>

The six fingers or phalanges of the ''ferro'' on the bow of a [[gondola]] represent the six ''sestieri''.<ref name="imagesofvenice.com" />

The ''sestieri'' are divided into [[parish]]es—initially 70 in 1033, but reduced under [[Napoleon]], and now numbering just 38. These parishes predate the ''sestieri'', which were created in about 1170. Each parish exhibited unique characteristics but also belonged to an integrated network. Each community chose its own patron saint, staged its own festivals, congregated around its own market centre, constructed its own bell towers, and developed its own customs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Venice: History Of The Floating City |last=Ferraro |first=Joanne |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |location=New York}}</ref>

Other islands of the [[Venetian Lagoon]] do not form part of any of the ''sestieri'', having historically enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy.<ref name="www.scoprivenezia.com">{{Cite web |title=Sestieri – Quartieri di Venezia |trans-title=Sestieri – Neighborhoods of Venice |url=https://www.scoprivenezia.com/sestieri |last=Mancebo |first=Ivanka Garcia |access-date=7 July 2023 |website=www.scoprivenezia.com |language=it}}</ref>

Each ''sestiere'' has its own [[house numbering]] system. Each house has a unique number in the district, from one to several thousand, generally numbered from one corner of the area to another, but not usually in a readily understandable manner.<ref name="www.scoprivenezia.com" />

== Economy ==
[[File:Piazzetta San Marco Venice BLS.jpg|thumb|[[Piazza San Marco|St. Mark Square]] with [[Doge's Palace]] on the left and the [[Columns of San Marco and San Todaro|columns]] of the ''[[Lion of Venice]]'' and St. Theodore in the center]]
[[File:Arsenal - panoramio - nikola pu.jpg|thumb|The [[Venetian Arsenal]] is a complex of former shipyards, and now houses the [[Museo Storico Navale|Naval Historical Museum]].]]

[[Economic history of Venice|Venice's economy]] has changed throughout history. Although there is little specific information about the earliest years, it is likely that an important source of the city's prosperity was the trade in slaves, captured in central Europe and sold to North Africa and the [[Levant]]. Venice's location at the head of the Adriatic, and directly south of the terminus of the [[Brenner Pass]] over the Alps, would have given it a distinct advantage as a middleman in this important trade. In the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]], Venice was a major centre for commerce and trade, as it controlled a vast sea-empire, and became an extremely wealthy European city and a leader in political and economic affairs.<ref name="aboutvenice.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutvenice.org/economy-of-venice.html |title=The economy of Venice, Italy |work=Aboutvenice.org |access-date=22 April 2010 |archive-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627151212/http://www.aboutvenice.org/economy-of-venice.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> From the 11th century until the 15th century, [[pilgrimage]]s to the [[Holy Land]] were offered in Venice. Other ports such as [[Genoa]], [[Pisa]], [[Marseille]], [[Ancona]], and [[Dubrovnik]] were hardly able to compete with the well organized transportation of pilgrims from Venice.<ref>Pilgerreisen von Venedig nach Jerusalem im späten Mittelalter- Die Verträge mit dem Schiffspatron, Seite 2, Fabian H. Flöper, GRIN Verlag, 2011. {{ISBN|978-3-656-04783-4}}</ref><ref>Venice, page 71, Beryl D. De Sélincourt, May (Sturge) Gretton, Chatto & Windus, London 1907., reprinted BiblioBazaar 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-177-40448-8}}</ref>

[[Armenia]]n merchants from [[New Julfa|Julfa]] were the leading traders in Venice, especially the [[Sceriman family]] in the 17th century. They were specialized in the gems and diamonds business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/ |access-date=13 May 2021 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The trade volume reached millions of tons, which was exceptional for 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bakhchinyan |first=Artsvi |date=2017 |title=The Activity of Armenian Merchants in International Trade |url=https://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/rp/publications/no14/14-03_Bakhchinyan.pdf |page=25}}</ref> This all changed by the 17th century, when Venice's trade empire was taken over by countries such as Portugal, and its importance as a naval power was reduced. In the 18th century, it became a major agricultural and industrial exporter. The 18th century's biggest industrial complex was the [[Venice Arsenal]], and the Italian Army still uses it today (even though some space has been used for major theatrical and cultural productions, and as spaces for art).<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/625298/Venice/24381/Economy |title=Venice (Italy) :: Economy – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> Since World War II, many Venetians have moved to the neighboring cities of [[Mestre]] and [[Porto Marghera]], seeking employment as well as affordable housing.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Venice |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia |year=2016 |page=1}}</ref>

Today, Venice's economy is mainly based on tourism, shipbuilding (mainly in Mestre and Porto Marghera), services, trade, and industrial exports.<ref name="aboutvenice.org" /> [[Murano glass]] production in [[Murano]] and lace production in [[Burano]] are also highly important to the economy.<ref name="aboutvenice.org" />

The city is facing financial challenges. In late 2016, it had a major deficit in its budget and debts in excess of €400&nbsp;million. "In effect, the place is bankrupt", according to a report by ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref name="GuardianBuckley201611" /> Many locals are leaving the historic centre due to rapidly increasing rents. The declining native population affects the character of the city, as an October 2016 ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' article pointed out in its subtitle: "Residents are abandoning the city, which is in danger of becoming an overpriced theme park".<ref name="NatgeoWorrall201610" /> The city is also facing other challenges, including erosion, pollution, subsidence, an excessive number of tourists in peak periods, and problems caused by oversized cruise ships sailing close to the banks of the historical city.<ref name="NatgeoWorrall201610" />

In June 2017, Italy was required to bail out two Venetian banks – the [[Banca Popolare di Vicenza]] and [[Veneto Banca]] – to prevent their bankruptcies.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40400210 |title=Italy forced to bail out two more banks |first=Chris |last=Johnston |work=BBC News |date=25 June 2017}}</ref> Both banks would be wound down and their assets that have value taken over by another Italian bank, [[Intesa Sanpaolo]], which would receive €5.2&nbsp;billion as compensation. The Italian government would be responsible for losses from any uncollectible loans from the closed banks. The cost would be €5.2&nbsp;billion, with further guarantees to cover bad loans totaling €12&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/26/italy-bank-eu-rescue-veneto-banca-banca-popolare-di-vicenza |title=Italy's €17bn bank job: self-preservation at a long-term EU price? – Nils Pratley |first=Nils |last=Pratley |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 June 2017 |via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

=== Tourism ===
[[File:Tourism Venice 3.svg|thumb|right|450px|The annual trend of tourism sector in Venice from 2013 to 2023 is divided by the number of presences per type of hotel establishments. The total number of presences indicates the number of nights spent by tourists in hotel establishments.]]
[[File:Lido di Jesolo 3.jpg|thumb|right|The beach of [[Lido di Venezia]]]]
[[File:Tourism on the Canal in Burano (Venice).jpg|thumb|Burano, tourist destination usually reached via vaporetto]]

Venice is an important destination for tourists who want to see its celebrated art and architecture.<ref name="britannica.com" /> The city hosts up to 60,000 tourists per day (2017 estimate). Estimates of the annual number of tourists vary from 22&nbsp;million to 30&nbsp;million.<ref name="TelegraphHaines201706">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/veneto/venice/articles/venice-bans-new-hotels-as-crackdown-on-tourism-continues/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/veneto/venice/articles/venice-bans-new-hotels-as-crackdown-on-tourism-continues/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Venice bans new hotels as crackdown on tourism continues |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=12 June 2017 |last1=Haines |first1=Gavin}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="IndependentBuckley201706">{{cite news |last=Buckley |first=Julia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-bans-new-hotels-authorities-tourist-crackdown-italy-a7781221.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220811/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-bans-new-hotels-authorities-tourist-crackdown-italy-a7781221.html |archive-date=11 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Venice bans new hotels |date=9 June 2017 |website=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="GuardianUsborne201609">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/sep/27/dont-look-now-venice-tourists-locals-sick-of-you-cruise-liners |title=Don't look now, Venice tourists – the locals are sick of you |first=Simon |last=Usborne |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 September 2016 |via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> This "[[overtourism]]" creates overcrowding and [[environmental impact of tourism|environmental problems]] for Venice's ecosystem. By 2017, [[UNESCO]] was considering the addition of Venice to its "In-Danger" list, which includes historical ruins in war-torn countries. To reduce the number of visitors, who are causing irreversible changes in Venice, the agency supports limiting the number of cruise ships<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/opinion/can-we-save-venice-before-its-too-late.html |title=Opinion – Can We Save Venice Before It's Too Late? |first=Salvatore |last=Settis |work=The New York Times |date=29 August 2016 |via=www.nytimes.com}}</ref> as well as implementing a strategy for more [[sustainable tourism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://veneziaautentica.com/venice-to-be-or-not-to-be-a-unesco-world-heritage-in-danger-that-is-the-question/ |title=Venice, to be or not to be a UNESCO 'World Heritage in Danger'? That is the question. |date=25 January 2017 |website=Venezia Autentica}}</ref>

Tourism has been a major part of the Venetian economy since the 18th century, when Venice – with its beautiful cityscape, uniqueness, and rich musical and artistic cultural heritage – was a stop on the [[Grand Tour]]. In the 19th century, Venice became a fashionable centre for the "rich and famous", who often stayed and dined at luxury establishments such as the Danieli Hotel and the [[Caffè Florian]], and continued to be a fashionable city into the early 20th century.<ref name="britannica.com" /> In the 1980s, the [[Carnival of Venice]] was revived; and the city has become a major centre of international conferences and festivals, such as the prestigious [[Venice Biennale]] and the [[Venice Film Festival]], which attract visitors from all over the world for their theatrical, cultural, cinematic, artistic, and musical productions.<ref name="britannica.com" />

Today, there are numerous attractions in Venice, such as [[St Mark's Basilica]], the [[Doge's Palace]], the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]], and the [[Piazza San Marco]]. The [[Lido di Venezia]] is also a popular international luxury destination, attracting thousands of actors, critics, celebrities, and others in the cinematic industry. The city also relies heavily on the cruise business.<ref name="britannica.com" /> The Cruise Venice Committee has estimated that cruise ship passengers spend more than 150&nbsp;million euros (US$193&nbsp;million) annually in the city, according to a 2015 report.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mack |first=Benjamin |date=9 November 2012 |title=Tourism overwhelms vanishing Venice |url=http://www.dw.de/tourism-overwhelms-vanishing-venice/a-16364608 |website=DW.de |access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref> Other reports, however, point out that such day-trippers spend relatively little in the few hours of their visits to the city.<ref name="GuardianBuckley201611" />

Venice is regarded by some as a tourist trap, and by others as a "living museum".<ref name="britannica.com" />

==== Diverting cruise ships ====
[[File:Cruiseship passing bacino San Marco Venise.jpg|thumb|Cruise ship and gondolas in the [[San Marco basin]]]]

The need to protect the city's historic environment and fragile canals, in the face of a possible loss of jobs produced by cruise tourism, has seen the Italian Transport Ministry attempt to introduce a ban on large cruise ships visiting the city. A 2013 ban would have allowed only cruise ships smaller than 40,000-gross tons to enter the [[Giudecca Canal]] and St Mark's basin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Italy to ban large cruise ships in Venice |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11023451/Italy-to-ban-large-cruise-ships-in-Venice.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11023451/Italy-to-ban-large-cruise-ships-in-Venice.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 August 2014 |access-date=13 January 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In January 2015, a regional court scrapped the ban, but some global cruise lines indicated that they would continue to respect it until a long-term solution for the protection of Venice is found.<ref>{{cite web |title=CLIA says cruise lines will continue to respect Venice cruise ship ban despite new ruling |url=http://www.cruisearabiaonline.com/News/2015/01/13/CLIA-says-cruise-lines-will-continue-to-respect-Venice-cruise-ship-ban-despite-new-ruling |website=Cruise Arabia & Africa |date=13 January 2015 |access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref>

P&O Cruises removed Venice from its summer schedule; Holland America moved one of its ships from this area to Alaska; and Cunard reduced (in 2017 and further in 2018) the number of visits by its ships. As a result, the Venice Port Authority estimated an 11.4 per cent drop in cruise ships arriving in 2017 versus 2016, leading to a similar reduction in income for Venice.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/cruise-ships-and-venice-what-does-it-all-mean-for-the-city/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/cruise-ships-and-venice-what-does-it-all-mean-for-the-city/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Venice authorities lament lack of cruise ships as residents and Unesco fight for the city's future |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=June 2017 |last1=Archer |first1=Jane}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Having failed in its 2013 bid to ban oversized cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal, the Italian inter-ministerial ''Comitatone'' overseeing Venice's lagoon released an official directive in November 2017 to keep the largest cruise ships away from the Piazza San Marco and the entrance to the Grand Canal.<ref>{{cite web |title='Grandi navi a Marghera': L'atto di indirizzo del Comitatone |trans-title='Large ships to Marghera': The directive from the Comitatone |url=http://www.mit.gov.it/comunicazione/news/grandi-navi-marghera-latto-di-indirizzo-del-comitatone |date=7 November 2017 |website=Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport |language=it |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330060547/http://www.mit.gov.it/comunicazione/news/grandi-navi-marghera-latto-di-indirizzo-del-comitatone |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=9 November 2017 |url=https://news.sky.com/story/giant-cruise-ships-banned-from-historic-centre-of-venice-11119153 |title=Giant cruise ships banned from historic centre of Venice |website=[[Sky News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Outcome of the long-awaited Government decision on the future for cruiseships (Comitatone 7.11.2017) |url=https://weareherevenice.org/outcome-long-awaited-government-decision-future-cruiseships-comitatone-7-11-2017/ |website=We Are Here Venice |access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref> Ships over 55,000 tons will be required to follow a specific route through the Vittorio Emmanuele III Canal to reach [[Marghera]], an industrial area of the mainland, where a passenger terminal would be built.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cruise ship crashes into tourist boat in Venice, injuring five people |url=https://www.anglenews.com/2019/06/03/cruise-ship-crashes-into-tourist-boat-in-venice-injuring-five-people-world-news/ |date=2 June 2019 |website=Angle News |access-date=3 June 2019 |archive-date=3 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603142509/https://www.anglenews.com/2019/06/03/cruise-ship-crashes-into-tourist-boat-in-venice-injuring-five-people-world-news/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, the United Nations warned the city that it may be placed on UNESCO's [[List of World Heritage in Danger]] sites unless cruise ships are banned from the canals near the historic centre.<ref>{{cite web |title=UNESCO Pressures Italy to Ban Cruise Ships from Venice |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/unesco-pressures-italy-to-ban-cruise-ships-from-venice-133878 |website=Artnet News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305215242/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/unesco-pressures-italy-to-ban-cruise-ships-from-venice-133878 |archive-date=5 March 2021 |date=16 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the officials, the plan to create an alternative route for ships would require extensive dredging of the canal and the building of a new port, which would take four years, in total, to complete. However, the activist group ''No Grandi Navi'' (No big Ships), argued that the effects of pollution caused by the ships would not be diminished by the re-routing plan.<ref>{{cite news |first=Angela |last=Giuffrida |title=Venice to divert giant cruise ships away from historic centre |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/08/venice-cruise-ship-traffic-restricted-amid-concerns-over-damage-to-buildings |date=8 November 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="GuardianGiuffrida201906">{{cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |display-authors=etal |title=Cruise ship crashes into tourist boat in Venice, injuring five people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/02/cruise-ship-crashes-into-tourist-boat-in-venice-injuring-five-people |date=2 June 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

Some locals continued to aggressively lobby for new methods that would reduce the number of cruise ship passengers; their estimate indicated that there are up to 30,000 such sightseers per day at peak periods,<ref name="GuardianUsborne201609" /> while others concentrate their effort on promoting a more responsible way of visiting the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2017/08/04/ethical-travel-in-venice-tips%22 |title=Top tips for sustainable travel in Venice from local experts |first=AnneMarie |last=McCarthy |website=www.lonelyplanet.com |access-date=26 November 2017 |archive-date=24 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124022650/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2017/08/04/ethical-travel-in-venice-tips%22/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> An unofficial referendum to ban large cruise ships was held in June 2017. More than 18,000 people voted at 60 polling booths set up by activists, and 17,874 favored banning large ships from the lagoon. The population of Venice at the time was about 50,000.<ref name="express.co.uk" /> The organizers of the referendum backed a plan to build a new cruise ship terminal at one of the three entrances to the [[Venetian Lagoon]]. Passengers would be transferred to the historic area in smaller boats.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/residents-vote-to-ban-towering-cruise-ships-from-venice-67qvsh329 |title=Residents vote to ban towering cruise ships from Venice |first=Tom Kington |last=Rome |date=20 June 2017 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/19/venetians-vote-ban-giant-cruise-ships-citys-lagoon/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/19/venetians-vote-ban-giant-cruise-ships-citys-lagoon/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Venetians vote to ban giant cruise ships from city's lagoon |first=Nick |last=Squires |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 June 2017 |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On 2 June 2019, the cruise ship ''[[MSC Opera]]'' rammed a tourist riverboat, the ''[[Uniworld|River Countess]]'', which was docked on the Giudecca Canal, injuring five people, in addition to causing property damage. The incident immediately led to renewed demands to ban large cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal,<ref>{{cite news |title=Venice crash reignites calls for cruise ship ban |work=BBC News |date=2 June 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48489158 |access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref> including a [[Twitter]] message to that effect posted by the environment minister. The city's mayor urged authorities to accelerate the steps required for cruise ships to begin using the alternate Vittorio Emanuele canal.<ref>{{cite web |last=Standish |first=Dominic |title=Decisions Made for Venice Cruise Ships, Channel Routes and Offshore Platform |url=https://dstandish.com/2017/11/08/decisions-made-for-venice-cruise-ships-channel-routes-and-offshore-platform/ |date=8 November 2017 |website=Dstandish's Weblog |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> Italy's transport minister spoke of a "solution to protect both the lagoon and tourism ... after many years of inertia" but specifics were not reported.<ref>{{cite news |title=Venice crash reignites calls for cruise ship ban |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48489158 |date=2 June 2019 |website=BBC News |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cruise ship plows into tourist boat docked in Venice |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venice-cruise-ship-crash-1.5159159 |date=2 June 2019 |website=CBC News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref> {{As of|2019|06}}, the 2017 plan to establish an alternative route for large ships, preventing them from coming near the historic area of the city, has not yet been approved.<ref name="GuardianGiuffrida201906" />

Nonetheless, the Italian government released an announcement on 7 August 2019 that it would begin rerouting cruise ships larger than 1000 tonnes away from the historic city's Giudecca Canal. For the last four months of 2019, all heavy vessels would dock at the Fusina and Lombardia terminals which are still on the lagoon but away from the central islands. By 2020, one-third of all cruise ships would be rerouted, according to Danilo Toninelli, the minister for Venice. Preparation work for the Vittorio Emanuele Canal needed to begin soon for a long-term solution, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sharpe |first=Olivia |date=8 August 2019 |title=Large cruise ships to be banned from Venice grand canal |url=https://www.cruisetradenews.com/large-cruise-ships-banned-venice-grand-canal/ |magazine=[[Cruise Lines International Association|Cruise Trade News]] |access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kumar |first=Kalyan |title=Cruise Ships Banned From Venice Grand Canal, City Center After Boat Crashed Into Dock |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/cruise-ships-banned-venice-grand-canal-city-center-after-boat-crashed-dock-2811794 |date=9 August 2019 |website=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref> In the long-term, space for ships would be provided at new terminals, perhaps at Chioggia or Lido San Nicolo. That plan was not imminent however, since public consultations had not yet begun. Over 1.5&nbsp;million people per year arrive in Venice on cruise ships.<ref>{{cite news |title=Venice to give cruise ships a wide berth |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6e21302e-b922-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/6e21302e-b922-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |date=7 August 2019 |last1=Roberts |first1=Hannah}}</ref> The Italian government decided to divert large cruise ships beginning August 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Italy bans cruise liners from Venice, after years of hesitation |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-italy-legislate-keep-liners-out-venice-lagoon-sources-2021-07-13/ |website=[[Reuters]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714170743/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-italy-legislate-keep-liners-out-venice-lagoon-sources-2021-07-13/ |archive-date=14 July 2021 |date=13 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Other tourism mitigation efforts ====
[[File:Cleaning of Venetian canals, late 90's.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|Cleaning of canals in the late 1990s]]

Having failed in its 2013 bid to ban oversized cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal, the city switched to a new strategy in mid-2017, banning the creation of any additional hotels. Currently, there are over 24,000 hotel rooms. The ban does not affect short-term rentals in the historic centre which are causing an increase in the cost of living for the native residents of Venice.<ref name="GuardianBuckley201611" /> The city had already banned any additional fast food "take-away" outlets, to retain the historic character of the city, which was another reason for freezing the number of hotel rooms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/10/news/venice-italy-takeout-fast-food-tourism/index.html |title=Venice bans cheap takeout joints to keep city beautiful |last1=Petroff |first1=Alanna |last2=Di Donato |first2=Valentina |date=10 May 2017 |website=[[CNN Money]]}}</ref> Fewer than half of the millions of annual visitors stay overnight, however.<ref name="TelegraphHaines201706" /><ref name="IndependentBuckley201706" />

The city also considered a ban on wheeled suitcases, but settled for banning hard plastic wheels for transporting cargo from May 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last=Frank |first=Kasper |title=Turistby indfører forbud mod larmende kufferthjul |trans-title=Tourist town introduces a ban on noisy suitcases |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/livsstil/rejser/storby/ECE7230836/Turistby-indf%EF%BF%BDrer-forbud-mod-larmende-rullekufferter/ |date=24 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125135354/http://jyllands-posten.dk/livsstil/rejser/storby/ECE7230836/Turistby-indf%EF%BF%BDrer-forbud-mod-larmende-rullekufferter/ |work=[[Jyllands-Posten]] |department=Lifestyle |archive-date=25 November 2015 |language=da |access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Rio Priuli o de Santa Sofia (Venice).jpg|thumb|View from the Bridge Priuli a Santa Sofia, to the Bridge de le Vele]]
In addition to accelerating erosion of the ancient city's foundations and creating some pollution in the lagoon,<ref name="NatgeoWorrall201610" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Livesay |first=Christopher |date=25 November 2016 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/25/503038911/as-tourists-crowd-out-locals-venice-faces-endangered-list |title=As Tourists Crowd Out Locals, Venice Faces 'Endangered' List |newspaper=NPR}}</ref> cruise ships dropping an excessive number of day trippers can make St. Marks Square and other popular attractions too crowded to walk through during the peak season. Government officials see little value to the economy from the "eat and flee" tourists who stay for less than a day, which is typical of those from cruise ships.<ref name="express.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/836982/venice-disneyland-on-sea-tourist-ban-Italy-holiday-travel |title='It's like Disneyland-on-Sea' Now Italy says ENOUGH and plans to BAN tourists from Venice |first=Ross |last=Logan |date=4 August 2017 |website=Daily Express}}</ref>

On 28 February 2019, the Venice City Council voted in favour of a new municipal regulation requiring day-trippers visiting the historic centre, and the islands in the lagoon, to pay a new access fee. The extra revenue from the fee would be used for cleaning, maintaining security, reducing the financial burden on residents of Venice, and to "allow Venetians to live with more decorum". The new tax would be between €3 and €10 per person, depending on the expected tourist flow into the old city. The fee could be waived for certain types of travelers: including students, children under the age of 6, voluntary workers, residents of the Veneto region, and participants in sporting events.<ref>{{cite web |title=Contributo di accesso a Venezia: tutte le informazioni utili |trans-title=Access fee for Venice: all useful information |url=https://live.comune.venezia.it/it/contributo-accesso-venezia-informazioni-utili |date=24 October 2019 |website=City of Venice |language=it |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref> Overnight visitors, who already pay a "stay" tax and account for around 40% of Venice's yearly total of 28&nbsp;million visitors,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.comune.venezia.it/sites/comune.venezia.it/files/immagini/Turismo/ANNUARIO%202017.pdf |title=Tourism |website=City of Venice |date=2017 |access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref> would also be exempted. The access fee was expected to come into effect in September 2019; but it was postponed, firstly, until 1 January 2020, and then, again, due to the coronavirus pandemic.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://live.comune.venezia.it/it/2019/07/contributo-di-accesso-sospesi-tutti-gli-obblighi-e-gli-adempimenti-previsti-dal-regolamento |title=Contributo di accesso: sospesi tutti gli obblighi e gli adempimenti previsti dal Regolamento in fase di revisione |trans-title=Access fee: all obligations and fulfillments set out in the Regulation currently being revised are suspended |date=16 July 2019 |website=Comune di Venezia – Live – Le notizie di oggi e i servizi della città}}</ref> The new charge of €5 started to be imposed on those tourists who are not staying overnight and came into force on 25 April 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Giuffrida |first=Angela |date=2024-04-24 |title=Venice access fee: what is it and how much does it cost? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/24/venice-access-fee-what-is-it-and-how-much-does-it-cost |access-date=2024-04-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It is only charged on peak visitor days, and several classes of people are exempt, including [[Veneto]] residents, hotel guests (including mainland boroughs of Venice), local workers, and students.<ref>[https://www.wbur.org/npr/1247162570/venice-entry-fee-day-trippers-tourists Venice tests a 5-euro fee for day-trippers as the city grapples with overtourism]</ref> Cell phone data showed more tourists came on fee-charged days in 2024, generating more money than expected, and leaving the city to decide whether to raise the fee for the next tourist season or try other approaches.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/world/europe/venice-italy-entrance-fee.html |title=To Deter Day-Trippers, Venice Tested a €5 Entrance Fee. Did Visitors Stay Away? |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Elisabetta Povoledo |date=July 20, 2024}}</ref>

A regulation taking effect on June 1, 2024, limits tour groups to 25 people and bans loudspeakers.<ref>[https://www.wbur.org/npr/1222393894/venice-tour-groups-loudspeakers Venice will limit tour groups to 25 people and ban loudspeakers to control tourism]</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Durbin |first1=Adam |title=Venice bans large tourist groups and loudspeakers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyjjy78n9zno |website=www.bbc.com |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>

== Transport ==
=== In the historic centre ===
[[File:Gondola convoy, Grand Canal, Venice.jpg|thumb|Gondoliers on the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]]]]
[[File:Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica (Venezia, 1965) - Sandolo - BEIC 6343165.jpg|thumb|Sandolo in a picture of [[Paolo Monti]] of 1965. Fondo Paolo Monti, [[Biblioteca europea di informazione e cultura|BEIC]].]]

Venice is built on an [[archipelago]] of 118 islands<ref name="UNESCO Venice" /> in a shallow, {{convert|550|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} [[Venetian lagoon|lagoon]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Poggioli |first=Sylvia |author-link=Sylvia Poggioli |title=MOSE Project Aims to Part Venice Floods |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17855145 |date=7 January 2008 |work=Morning Edition |type=Radio program |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref> connected by 400 bridges<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.studyabroad.com/pages/sitecontent/venice.aspx |title=Venice Study Abroad |website=www.studyabroad.com |access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref> over 177 canals. In the 19th century, a causeway to the mainland brought the railroad to [[Venezia Santa Lucia railway station|Venice]]. The adjoining [[Ponte della Libertà]] road causeway and terminal parking facilities in Tronchetto island and Piazzale Roma were built during the 20th century. Beyond these rail and road terminals on the northern edge of the city, transportation within the city's historic centre remains, as it was in centuries past, entirely on water or on foot. Venice is Europe's largest urban [[Auto-free zones|car-free area]] and is unique in Europe in having remained a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

The classic Venetian boat is the ''[[gondola]]'', (plural: ''gondole'') although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies, or as ''traghetti''{{clarify|date=May 2024}} (sing.: traghetto) to cross the Grand Canal in lieu of a nearby bridge. The traghetti are operated by two oarsmen.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/veneto/venice/articles/venice-attractions/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/veneto/venice/articles/venice-attractions/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Venice attractions |first=Anne |last=Hanley |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 November 2015 |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

There are approximately 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice, in their distinctive [[livery]], and a similar number of boats, down from 10,000 two centuries ago.{{when|date=May 2024}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/aug/11/the-right-stripes-how-fashion-fell-for-the-gondolier |title=The right stripes: how fashion fell for the gondolier |first=Morwenna |last=Ferrier |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 August 2016 |via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref name="ricksteves.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/the-gondolas-of-venice |title=The Gondolas of Venice – Rick Steves' Europe |website=www.ricksteves.com}}</ref> Many gondolas are lushly appointed with [[crushed velvet]] seats and [[Persian rug]]s. At the front of each gondola that works in the city, there is a large piece of metal called the ''fèro'' (iron). Its shape has evolved through the centuries, as documented in many well-known paintings. Its form, topped by a likeness of the Doge's hat, became gradually standardized, and was then fixed by local law. It consists of six bars pointing forward representing the [[#Sestieri|sestieri]] of the city, and one that points backwards representing the [[Giudecca]].<ref name="ricksteves.com" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Visit Venice through Gondola's symbolism |url=http://www.hotelsantelena.com/blog/visit-venice-through-gondolas-symbolism/ |date=16 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609022508/http://www.hotelsantelena.com/blog/visit-venice-through-gondolas-symbolism/ |archive-date=9 June 2017 |website=Hotel Sant'Elena |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref> A lesser-known boat is the smaller, simpler, but similar, [[sandolo]].

==== Waterways ====
Venice's small islands were enhanced during the Middle Ages by the [[dredging]] of soil to raise the marshy ground above the tides. The resulting canals encouraged the flourishing of a nautical culture which proved central to the economy of the city. Today those canals still provide the means for transport of goods and people within the city.

The maze of canals threading through the city requires more than 400 bridges to permit the flow of foot traffic. In 2011, the city opened the [[Ponte della Costituzione]], the fourth bridge across the Grand Canal, which connects the [[Piazzale Roma]] bus-terminal area with the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station. The other bridges are the original [[Ponte di Rialto]], the [[Ponte dell'Accademia]], and the [[Ponte degli Scalzi]].

=== Public transport ===
[[Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano]] (ACTV) is a public company responsible for public transportation in Venice.

==== Lagoon area ====
[[File:Vaporetti Venice Lagoon.jpg|thumb|Vaporetti on the Grand Canal]]

The main means of public transportation consists of motorised [[waterbus]]es (''[[vaporetto|vaporetti]]'') which ply regular routes along the Grand Canal and between the city's islands. Private motorised water taxis are also active. The only gondole still in common use by Venetians are the ''traghetti'', foot passenger [[ferry|ferries]] crossing the Grand Canal at certain points where there are no convenient bridges. Other gondole are rented by tourists on an hourly basis.<ref name="ricksteves.com" />

The [[Venice People Mover]] is an elevated shuttle train [[public transit]] system connecting [[Tronchetto island]] with its car parking facility with Piazzale Roma where visitors arrive in the city by bus, taxi, or automobile. The train makes a stop at the Marittima cruise terminal at the [[Port of Venice]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Imboden |first=Durant |title=Venice People Mover |url=https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-people-mover.htm |website=Europe for Visitors |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>

==== Lido and Pellestrina islands ====
[[Lido di Venezia|Lido]] and [[Pellestrina]] are two islands forming a barrier between the southern Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. On those islands, road traffic, including bus service, is allowed. Vaporetti link them with other islands (Venice, [[Murano]], [[Burano]]) and with the peninsula of [[Cavallino-Treporti]].

==== Mainland ====
[[File:Actv tram Venezia leaving Piazzale Roma 2017.jpg|thumb|[[Trams in Mestre|Tram in Venice]] leaving [[Piazzale Roma]]]]

The mainland of Venice is composed of 4 boroughs: [[Mestre]]-Carpenedo, [[Marghera]], Chirignago-Zelarino, and Favaro Veneto. Mestre is the centre and the most populous urban area of the mainland. There are several bus routes and two [[Translohr]] [[Trams in Mestre|tramway lines]]. Several bus routes and one of the tramway lines link the mainland with ''[[Piazzale Roma]]'', the main bus station in Venice, via [[Ponte della Libertà]], the road bridge connecting the mainland with the group of islands that comprise the historic centre of Venice.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Venice, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 52 min. Only 12.2% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 10 min, while 17.6% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is {{convert|7|km}}, while 12% travel for over {{convert|12|km}} in a single direction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.moovitapp.com/insights/en/Moovit_Insights_Public_Transit_Index_Italy_Venezia-2083 |title=Venezia Public Transportation Statistics |publisher=Global Public Transit Index by Moovit |access-date=19 June 2017}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50x50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]].</ref>

=== Rail ===
[[File:Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station R02.jpg|thumb|The [[Venezia Santa Lucia railway station|Venice Santa Lucia station]]]]

Venice is served by regional and national trains, including trains to Florence (1h53), Milan (2h13), Turin (3h10), Rome (3h33), and Naples (4h50). 

There are international day trains to Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich, and Vienna, plus overnight sleeper services, to Paris and Dijon on [[Thello]] trains, and to Munich and Vienna via [[ÖBB|Austrian Federal Railways]].

[[European Sleeper]] operates a sleeper train between [[Brussels]] and Venice, stopping in [[Utrecht]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=New sleeper train connecting Brussels to Venice launches this week |url=https://www.wanderlustmagazine.com/news/new-sleeper-train-brussels-venice/ |date=4 February 2025 |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=Wanderlust}}</ref>

* The [[Venezia Santa Lucia railway station]] is a few steps away from a vaporetti stop, Ferovia, in the historic city next to the ''Piazzale Roma''. This station is the terminus of local trains and of the luxury [[Venice Simplon Orient Express]] from London via Paris and other cities.
* The [[Venezia Mestre railway station]] is on the mainland, on the border between the boroughs of Mestre and Marghera.

Both stations are managed by [[Grandi Stazioni]]; they are linked by the ''Ponte della Libertà'' (Liberty Bridge) between the mainland and the city centre.

Other stations in the municipality are Venezia Porto Marghera, Venezia Carpenedo, Venezia Mestre Ospedale, and Venezia Mestre Porta Ovest.

=== Ports ===
[[File:2017 06 Venezia Terminal Passeggeri Terminal Passeggeri 2860.jpg|thumb|[[Cruise ship]]s at the passenger terminal in the [[Port of Venice]] (''Venezia Terminal Passeggeri'')]]
[[File:Aeroporto di Venezia - vue aerienne.jpg|thumb|[[Marco Polo International Airport]] (''Aeroporto di Venezia [[Marco Polo]]'')]]

The [[Port of Venice]] ({{langx|it|Porto di Venezia}}) is the eighth-busiest commercial port in Italy and was a major hub for the cruise sector in the [[Mediterranean]], as since August 2021 ships of more 25,000 tons are forbidden to pass the [[Giudecca Canal]]. It is one of the major Italian ports and is included in the list of the leading European ports which are located on the strategic nodes of trans-European networks. In 2002, the port handled 262,337 containers. In 2006, 30,936,931 tonnes passed through the port, of which 14,541,961 was commercial traffic, and saw 1,453,513 passengers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=C. A. |last2=Spencer |first2=T. |title=Flooding and Environmental Challenges for Venice and Its Lagoon: State of Knowledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8l9dfXu8OgYC&pg=PA263 |date=14 July 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84046-0 |page=263}}</ref>

=== Aviation ===
[[Marco Polo International Airport]] (''Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo'') is named in honor of [[Marco Polo]]. The airport is on the mainland and was rebuilt away from the coast. Public transport from the airport takes one to:
* Venice [[Piazzale Roma]] by ATVO (provincial company) buses<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atvo.it/index.php?lang=it&area=23&menuid=35 |title=ATVO |publisher=Atvo.it |access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref> and by ACTV (city company) buses (route 5 ''aerobus'');<ref name="actv.it">{{cite web |url=http://www.actv.it/muoversiinterraferma/lineeurbane |title=Linee Urbane |publisher=www.actv.it |access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref>
* Venice, Lido, and Murano by Allilaguna (private company) motor boats;
* Mestre, the mainland, where Venice Mestre railway station is convenient for connections to [[Milan]], [[Padua]], [[Trieste]], [[Verona]] and the rest of Italy, and for [[Actv|ACTV]] (routes 15 and 45)<ref name="actv.it" /> and ATVO buses and other transport;
* Regional destinations, such as [[Treviso]] and [[Padua]], by ATVO and [[Busitalia Sita Nord]] buses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fsbusitalia.it/cms-instance/documenti/fsbusitalia/Montegrotto-AeropMarcoPolo.pdf |title=Autolinea Montegrotto – Aeroporto Marco Polo |trans-title=Montegrotto Bus Line – Marco Polo Airport |language=it |publisher=Busitalia |access-date=28 February 2012 |archive-date=16 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416071331/http://www.fsbusitalia.it/cms-instance/documenti/fsbusitalia/Montegrotto-AeropMarcoPolo.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Treviso Airport|Venice-Treviso Airport]], about {{convert|30|km|0}} from Venice, is used mainly by low-cost airlines. There are public buses from this airport to Venice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treviso Airport Shuttle Bus – Airbus Treviso Antonio Canova Airport |url=https://www.trevisoairport.it/en/transport/bus.html |website=www.trevisoairport.it |publisher=Treviso Airport |access-date=26 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
Venezia-Lido "Giovanni Nicelli",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.enav.it/enavWebPortalStatic/AIP/AD/AD2/ADSPV1-1.pdf |title=Autenticazione per servizi online |trans-title=Authentication for online services |date=10 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527053548/http://www.enav.it/enavWebPortalStatic/AIP/AD/AD2/ADSPV1-1.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> a public airport suitable for smaller aircraft, is at the northeast end of [[Lido di Venezia]]. It has a {{Convert|994|m|ft|adj=on}} grass runway.

== Sport ==
The most famous Venetian sport is probably ''{{ill|Voga alla Veneta|it|Voga veneta}}'' ("Venetian-style rowing"), also commonly called ''voga veneta''. A technique invented in the Venetian Lagoon, Venetian rowing is unusual in that the rower(s), one or more, row standing, looking forward. Today, ''Voga alla Veneta'' is not only the way the gondoliers row tourists around Venice but also the way Venetians row for pleasure and sport. Many races called ''regata(e)'' happen throughout the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://veneziaautentica.com/all-that-you-need-to-know-about-the-venetian-rowing-regattas-in-venice/ |title=All that you need to know about the Venetian rowing regattas in Venice |date=31 October 2016 |website=Venezia Autentica}}</ref> The culminating event of the rowing season is the day of the "Regata Storica", which occurs on the first Sunday of September each year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alvarez |first1=Joe |last2=Orlova |first2=Tamara A |url=http://www.ikonlondonmagazine.com/regata-storica-is-the-spectacle-to-see/ |title=Regata Storica is The Spectacle to See |publisher=Ikon London Magazine |date=10 September 2016 |access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref>

The main football club in the city is [[Venezia F.C.]], founded in 1907, which currently plays in the [[Serie A]]. Their ground, the [[Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo]], situated in [[Sant'Elena (island)|Sant'Elena]], is the second-oldest continually used stadium in Italy.

The local basketball club is [[Reyer Venezia]], founded in 1872 as the gymnastics club ''Società Sportiva Costantino Reyer'', and in 1907 as the basketball club. Reyer currently plays in the [[Lega Basket Serie A]]. The men's team were the Italian champions in 1942, 1943, and 2017. Their arena is the [[Palasport Giuseppe Taliercio]], situated in [[Mestre]]. [[Luigi Brugnaro]] is both the president of the club and the mayor of the city.

== Education ==
[[File:(Venice) Ca' Foscari.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ca' Foscari University of Venice]]]]

Venice is a major international centre for higher education. The city hosts the [[Ca' Foscari University of Venice]], founded in 1868; the {{Lang|it|[[Università Iuav di Venezia]]|italic=no}}, founded in 1926; the [[Venice International University]], founded in 1995 and located on the island of [[San Servolo]] and the [[European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation|EIUC-European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation]], located on the island of [[Lido di Venezia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Campus of Human Rights – Education & Research |url=https://gchumanrights.org/ |access-date=7 July 2023 |website=GlobalCampus of Human Rights – GCHumanRights |language=en}}</ref>

Other Venetian institutions of higher education are: the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia|''Accademia di Belle Arti'']] (Academy of Fine Arts), established in 1750, whose first chairman was [[Giovanni Battista Piazzetta]], and the [[Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia|Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Music]], which was first established in 1876 as a high school and musical society, later (1915) became ''Liceo Musicale'', and then, when its director was [[Gian Francesco Malipiero]], the State Conservatory of Music (1940).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home – Conservatorio Venezia |url=https://www.conservatoriovenezia.eu/ |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello |language=it-IT}}</ref>

== Culture ==

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Venetian literature}}

[[File:Marco Polo - Battle of the King of Burma against the Mongols.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Travels of Marco Polo]]'']]

Venice has long been a source of inspiration for authors, playwrights, and poets, and at the forefront of the technological development of printing and publishing.

Two of the most noted Venetian writers were [[Marco Polo]] in the Middle Ages and, later, [[Giacomo Casanova]]. Polo (1254–1324) was a merchant who voyaged to [[the Orient]]. His series of books, co-written with [[Rustichello da Pisa]] and titled ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo|Il Milione]]'' provided important knowledge of the lands east of Europe, from the Middle East to China, Japan, and Russia. [[Giacomo Casanova]] (1725–1798) was a prolific writer and adventurer best remembered for his autobiography, ''Histoire De Ma Vie'' (''Story of My Life''), which links his colourful lifestyle to the city of Venice.

Venetian playwrights followed the old Italian theatre tradition of ''[[commedia dell'arte]]''. [[Angelo Beolco|Ruzante]] (1502–1542), [[Carlo Goldoni]] (1707–1793), and [[Carlo Gozzi]] (1720–1806) used the Venetian dialect extensively in their comedies.

Venice has also inspired writers from abroad. Shakespeare set ''[[Othello]]'' and ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' in the city, as did [[Thomas Mann]] his novel, ''[[Death in Venice]]'' (1912). The French writer [[Philippe Sollers]] spent most of his life in Venice and published ''A Dictionary For Lovers of Venice'' in 2004.

The city features prominently in [[Henry James]]'s ''[[The Aspern Papers]]'' and ''[[The Wings of the Dove]]''. It is also visited in [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'' and [[Marcel Proust]]'s ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]''. Perhaps the best-known children's book set in Venice is ''The Thief Lord'', written by the German author [[Cornelia Funke]].

Venice is described in [[Goethe]]'s [[Italian Journey]], 1786–1788. He describes the architecture, including a church by [[Palladio]] and also attends the opera. He visits the shipbuilding yards at the [[Arsenal]]. He is fascinated by the street life of Venice, which he describes as a kind of performance.

The poet [[Ugo Foscolo]] (1778–1827), born in [[Zakynthos|Zante]], an island that at the time belonged to the Republic of Venice, was also a [[revolutionary]] who wanted to see a free republic established in Venice following its fall to [[Napoleon]].

Venice also inspired the poetry of [[Ezra Pound]], who wrote his first literary work in the city. Pound died in 1972, and his remains are buried in Venice's [[:commons:Category:Cimitero di San Michele (Venice)|cemetery island]] of [[Isola di San Michele|San Michele]].

Venice is also linked to the technological aspects of writing. The city was the location of one of Italy's earliest printing presses called [[Aldine Press]], established by [[Aldus Manutius]] in 1494.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barolini |first1=Helen |title=Aldus and His Dream Book |date=1992 |publisher=Italica Press, Inc. |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-934977-22-4}}</ref> From this beginning Venice developed as an important typographic centre. Around fifteen percent of all printing of the fifteenth century came from Venice,<ref>John Rylands University library Manchester, ''The introduction of printing in Italy: Rome, Naples and Venice''</ref> and even as late as the 18th century was responsible for printing half of Italy's published books.{{Citation needed |date=February 2010}}

==== In literature and adapted works ====
The city is a particularly popular setting for essays, novels, and other works of fictional or non-fictional literature. Examples of these include:
* [[Aretino]]'s works (1492–1556)
* [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Merchant of Venice]]'' ({{circa|1596–1598}}) and ''[[Othello]]'' (1603).
* [[Ben Jonson]]'s ''[[Volpone]]'' (1605–6).
* [[Casanova]]'s autobiographical [[Histoire de ma vie|''History of My Life'']] {{circa|1789–1797}}.
* [[Voltaire]]'s ''[[Candide]]'' (1759).
* [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] wrote poetry for two pictures of Venice; one for ''The Embarkation'', drawn by [[Clarkson Stanfield]] for The Amulet, 1833, the other for ''Santa Salute'', drawn by [[Charles Bentley (painter)|Charles Bentley]] for the Literary Souvenir, 1835.
* [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[Across the River and into the Trees]]'' (1950).
* [[Italo Calvino]]'s ''[[Invisible Cities]]'' (1972).
* [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Cry to Heaven]]'' (1982).
* [[Donna Leon]]'s Commissario Guido Brunetti [[crime fiction]] series and cookbook, and the German television series based on the novels (1992–2019).
* [[Philippe Sollers]]' ''[[Watteau in Venice]]'' (1994).
* [[Michael Dibdin]]'s ''[[Dead Lagoon]]'' (1994), one in a series of novels featuring Venice-born policeman Aurelio Zen.
* [[Jacqueline Carey]]'s ''[[Kushiel's Chosen]]'' (2002), an [[historical fantasy]] or [[alternate history]] of Venice – complete with masquerades, canals, and a doge – taking place in a city known as La Serenissima.
* [[John Berendt]]'s ''The City of Falling Angels'' (2005)
* [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s [[comic opera]] ''[[The Gondoliers]]'' (1889)
* [[Thomas Mann]]'s novella, ''[[Death in Venice]]'' (1912), was the basis for Benjamin Britten's [[Death in Venice (opera)|eponymous opera]] (1973).

==== Foreign words of Venetian origin ====
Some English words with a Venetian etymology include [[:wikt:arsenal|arsenal]], [[:wikt:ciao|ciao]], [[:wikt:ghetto|ghetto]], [[:wikt:gondola|gondola]], [[:wikt:imbroglio|imbroglio]], [[:wikt:lagoon|lagoon]], [[:wikt:lazaret|lazaret]], [[:wikt:lido|lido]], [[:wikt:Montenegro|Montenegro]], and [[:wikt:regatta|regatta]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreign words of Venetian origination |last=Fielding |first=Hannah |author-link=Hannah Fielding |date=9 November 2013 |website=hannahfielding.net |url=https://hannahfielding.net/foreign-words-of-venetian-origin/}}</ref>

=== Printing ===
By the end of the 15th century, Venice had become the European capital of printing, having 417 printers by 1500, and being one of the first cities in Italy (after Subiaco and Rome) to have a printing press, after those established in Germany. The most important printing office was the [[Aldine Press]] of [[Aldus Manutius]]; which in 1497 issued the first printed work of [[Aristotle]]; in 1499 printed the ''[[Hypnerotomachia Poliphili]]'', considered the most beautiful book of the [[Renaissance]]; and established modern [[punctuation]], page format, and [[italic type]].

=== Painting ===
{{Main|Venetian painting|List of painters and architects of Venice}}

[[File:Canaletto - Bucentaur's return to the pier by the Palazzo Ducale - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|An 18th-century view of Venice by Venetian artist [[Canaletto]]]]

Venice, especially during the [[Renaissance]], and [[Baroque]] periods, was a major centre of art and developed a unique style known as the [[Venetian painting]]. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Venice, along with [[Florence]] and Rome, became one of the most important centres of art in Europe, and numerous wealthy Venetians became patrons of the arts. Venice at the time was a rich and prosperous [[Maritime Republics|Maritime Republic]], which controlled a vast sea and trade empire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/ven_ren.htm |title=The Renaissance in Venice – Art History Basics on the Venetian School – ca 1450–1600 |publisher=Arthistory.about.com |date=29 October 2009 |access-date=22 April 2010 |archive-date=28 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128120134/http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/ven_ren.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 16th century, Venetian painting was developed through influences from the Paduan School and [[Antonello da Messina]], who introduced the oil painting technique of the [[Van Eyck]] brothers. It is signified by a warm colour scale and a picturesque use of colour. Early masters were the Bellini and Vivarini families, followed by [[Giorgione]] and [[Titian]], then [[Tintoretto]] and [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]]. In the early 16th century, there was rivalry in Venetian painting between the ''disegno'' and ''colorito'' techniques.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.webexhibits.org/feast/context/venetianart.html |title=Venetian art around 1500 |publisher=Webexhibits.org |access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref>

[[Canvas]]es (the common painting surface) originated in Venice during the early Renaissance. In the 18th century, Venetian painting had a revival with [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo|Tiepolo]]'s decorative painting and [[Canaletto]]'s and [[Guardi]]'s panoramic views.

=== Venetian architecture ===
{{Main|Venetian Gothic architecture|Venetian Renaissance architecture}}

[[File:Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti WB.jpg|thumb|The [[Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti]] is an example of Venetian Gothic architecture alongside the [[Grand Canal (Venice)|Grand Canal]].]]
[[File:Ca' d'Oro facciata.jpg|thumb|The [[Ca' d'Oro]]]]

Venice is built on unstable mud-banks, and had a very crowded city centre by the Middle Ages. On the other hand, the city was largely safe from riot, civil feuds, and invasion much earlier than most European cities. These factors, with the canals and the great wealth of the city, made for unique building styles.

Venice has a rich and diverse [[architectural style]], the most prominent of which is the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style. [[Venetian Gothic architecture]] is a term given to a Venetian building style combining the use of the Gothic [[lancet window|lancet arch]] with the curved [[ogee arch]], due to [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] and [[Ottoman architecture|Ottoman]] influences. The style originated in 14th-century Venice, with a confluence of [[Byzantine]] style from [[Constantinople]], Islamic influences from [[Islamic Spain|Spain]] and Venice's eastern trading partners, and early Gothic forms from mainland Italy.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} Chief examples of the style are the [[Doge's Palace, Venice|Doge's Palace]] and the [[Ca' d'Oro]] in the city. The city also has several [[Renaissance]] and [[Baroque]] buildings, including the [[Ca' Pesaro]] and the [[Ca' Rezzonico]].

Venetian taste was conservative and [[Renaissance architecture]] only really became popular in buildings from about the 1470s. More than in the rest of Italy, it kept much of the typical form of the Gothic ''palazzi'', which had evolved to suit Venetian conditions. In turn the transition to [[Baroque architecture]] was also fairly gentle. This gives the crowded buildings on the Grand Canal and elsewhere an essential harmony, even where buildings from very different periods sit together. For example, round-topped arches are far more common in Renaissance buildings than elsewhere.

[[File:Ca' Rezzonico (Venice).jpg|thumb|The [[Baroque]] [[Ca' Rezzonico]]]]

=== Rococo style ===
It can be argued that Venice produced the best and most refined [[Rococo]] designs. At the time, the Venetian economy was in decline. It had lost most of its maritime power, was lagging behind its rivals in political importance, and its society had become decadent, with tourism increasingly the mainstay of the economy. But Venice remained a centre of fashion.<ref name="Miller 2005 p.82">Miller (2005) p.82</ref> Venetian rococo was well known as rich and luxurious, with usually very extravagant designs. Unique Venetian furniture types included the ''divani da portego'', and long rococo couches and ''pozzetti'', objects meant to be placed against the wall. Bedrooms of rich Venetians were usually sumptuous and grand, with rich damask, velvet, and silk drapery and curtains, and beautifully carved rococo beds with statues of [[putti]], flowers, and angels.<ref name="Miller 2005 p.82" /> Venice was especially known for its [[Girandole|girandole mirrors]], which remained among, if not the, finest in Europe. Chandeliers were usually very colourful, using [[Murano glass]] to make them look more vibrant and stand out from others; and precious stones and materials from abroad were used, since Venice still held a vast trade empire. Lacquer was very common, and many items of furniture were covered with it, the most noted being ''lacca povera'' (poor lacquer), in which allegories and images of social life were painted. Lacquerwork and [[Chinoiserie]] were particularly common in bureau cabinets.<ref>Miller (2005) p.83</ref>

=== Glass ===
{{Main|Venetian glass}}

[[File:Venetian glass goblet.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Venetian glass]] [[goblet]]]]

Venice is known for its ornate glass-work, known as [[Venetian glass]], which is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skillfully made. Many of the important characteristics of these objects had been developed by the 13th century. Toward the end of that century, the centre of the Venetian glass industry moved to [[Murano]], an offshore island in Venice. The glass made there is known as [[Murano glass]].

Byzantine craftsmen played an important role in the development of Venetian glass. When [[Constantinople]] was sacked in the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, some fleeing artisans came to Venice; when the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] took Constantinople in 1453, still more glassworkers arrived. By the 16th century, Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the colour and transparency of their glass, and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques. Despite efforts to keep Venetian glassmaking techniques within Venice, they became known elsewhere, and Venetian-style glassware was produced in other Italian cities and other countries of Europe.

Some of the most important brands of glass in the world today are still produced in the historical glass factories on Murano. They are: Venini, Barovier & Toso, [[Pauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano|Pauly]], Millevetri, and Seguso.<ref>Carl I. Gable, ''Murano Magic: Complete Guide to Venetian Glass, its History and Artists'' (Schiffer, 2004). {{ISBN|978-0-7643-1946-4}}.</ref> Barovier & Toso is considered one of the 100 [[List of oldest companies|oldest companies]] in the world, formed in 1295.

In February 2021, the world learned that Venetian glass [[trade beads]] had been found at three prehistoric [[Inuit]] sites in [[Alaska]], including Punyik Point. Uninhabited today, and located {{Convert|1|mi|km}} from the [[Continental Divide]] in the [[Brooks Range]], the area was on ancient trade routes from the [[Bering Sea]] to the [[Arctic Ocean]]. From their creation in Venice, researchers believe the likely route these artifacts traveled was across [[Europe]], then [[Eurasia]] and finally over the [[Bering Strait]], making this discovery "the first documented instance of the presence of indubitable European materials in prehistoric sites in the western hemisphere as the result of overland transport across the Eurasian continent." After [[radiocarbon dating]] materials found near the beads, archaeologists estimated their arrival on the continent to sometime between 1440 and 1480, predating [[Christopher Columbus]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Venetian Glass Beads Found in Arctic Alaska Predate Arrival of Columbus |url=http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/venetian-glass-beads-arctic-alaska-09357.html |access-date=18 February 2021 |publisher=Sci-News |date=16 February 2021}}</ref> The dating and provenance has been challenged by other researchers who point out that such beads were not made in Venice until the mid-16th century and that an early 17th century French origin is possible.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geggel |first1=Laura |title=European beads found in Alaska predate Columbus, controversial study claims |url=https://www.livescience.com/blue-glass-beads-predate-columbus-in-alaska.html |access-date=19 January 2022 |work=[[Live Science]] |date=11 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Elliot H. |title=Reconsidering the Precolumbian Presence of Venetian Glass Beads in Alaska |journal=American Antiquity |date=July 2021 |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=638–642 |doi=10.1017/aaq.2021.38 |s2cid=236162517 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/abs/reconsidering-the-precolumbian-presence-of-venetian-glass-beads-in-alaska/AA4A54ADE2EB416A447EBB6A12EC7831 |access-date=19 January 2022 |language=en |issn=0002-7316|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Festivals ===
{{See also|Carnival of Venice|Venice Film Festival}}
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The [[Carnival of Venice]] is held annually in the city, It lasts for around two weeks and ends on [[Shrove Tuesday]]. [[Venetian mask]]s are worn.

The [[Venice Biennale]] is one of the most important events in the arts calendar. In 1895 an ''Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale'' (biennial exhibition of Italian art) was inaugurated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/biennale/history/origin/en/7823.html |title=The Venice Biennale: History of the Venice Biennale |website=[[Venice Biennale]] |access-date=28 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110084931/http://www.labiennale.org/en/biennale/history/origin/en/7823.html |archive-date=10 January 2009}}</ref> In September 1942, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted by the war, but resumed in 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/biennale/history/origin/en/7823.3.html |title=The Venice Biennale: History From the beginnings until the Second World War (1893–1945) |website=Venice Biennale |access-date=28 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110084405/http://www.labiennale.org/en/biennale/history/origin/en/7823.3.html |archive-date=10 January 2009}}</ref>

The [[Festa del Redentore]] is held in mid-July. It began as a feast to give thanks for the end of the plague of 1576. A bridge of barges is built connecting Giudecca to the rest of Venice, and fireworks play an important role.

The [[Venice Film Festival]] ({{langx|it|Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia}}) is the oldest film festival in the world.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/arts/29iht-vfest29.html |title=Special Report – Venice Film Festival; World's Oldest Cinematic Fest Turns 80 |last=Morris |first=Roderick Conway |date=29 August 2012 |work=The New York Times |access-date=17 January 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Founded by Count [[Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata]] in 1932 as the ''Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica'', the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the [[Lido di Venezia|Lido]]. Screenings take place in the historic [[Palazzo del Cinema]] on the Lungomare Marconi. It is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals and is part of the Venice Biennale.

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Venice}}
{{See also|Venice in media|Venetian polychoral style|Music of Veneto|Venetian School (music)}}

[[File:La Fenice Opera House from the stage.jpg|thumb|[[La Fenice]] opera house in the city]]

Venice has played an important role in the development of [[music of Italy|Italian music]]. The medieval [[Republic of Venice]] was often popularly called the "Republic of Music", and an anonymous Frenchman of the 17th century is said to have remarked that "In every [Venetian] home, someone is playing a musical instrument or singing. There is music everywhere."<ref>Touring Club p. 79</ref>

During the 16th century, Venice became one of the most important musical centres of Europe, marked by a characteristic style of composition (the [[Venetian School (music)|Venetian school]]) and the development of the [[Venetian polychoral style]] under composers such as [[Adrian Willaert]], who worked at [[St Mark's Basilica]]. Venice was the early centre 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 known for the splendor of its music, as exemplified in the "colossal style" of [[Andrea Gabrieli|Andrea]] and [[Giovanni Gabrieli]], which used multiple choruses and instrumental groups. Venice was also the home of many noted composers during the [[baroque music|baroque period]], such as [[Antonio Vivaldi]], [[Tomaso Albinoni]], [[Ippolito Ciera]], [[Giovanni Picchi]], and [[Girolamo Dalla Casa]], to name but a few.

==== Orchestras ====
Venice is the home of numerous orchestras such as, the [[La Fenice|Orchestra della Fenice]], [[Rondò Veneziano]], Interpreti Veneziani, and [[Venice Baroque Orchestra]].

=== Cinema, media, and popular culture ===
[[File:2019 Venice Film Festival.jpg|thumb|The [[Venice Film Festival]] is the oldest film festival in the world and one of the most prestigious and publicized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-film-festival-unveils-lineup-720770 |title=Venice: David Gordon Green's 'Manglehorn,' Abel Ferrara's 'Pasolini' in Competition Lineup |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |last=Anderson |first=Ariston |date=24 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218220740/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-film-festival-unveils-lineup-720770 |archive-date=18 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Corliss |first1=Mary |last2=Corliss |first2=Richard |date=7 September 2014 |url=https://time.com/3291348/addio-lido-last-postcards-from-the-venice-film-festival/ |title=Addio, Lido: Last Postcards from the Venice Film Festival |magazine=Time |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920162423/http://time.com/3291348/addio-lido-last-postcards-from-the-venice-film-festival/ |archive-date=20 September 2014}}</ref>]] The city has been the setting or chosen location of numerous films, games, works of fine art and literature (including essays, fiction, non-fiction, and poems), music videos, television shows, and other cultural references.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rail-pass.com/venice-italy| title=Venice - Italy}}</ref> Notable examples of this are the films ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' and ''[[Casino Royale (2006 film)|Casino Royale]]'', the [[Battle Tendency|second part]] of the Japanese manga series ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' and the video game ''[[Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VenetoInside |url=https://www.venetoinside.com/en/news-and-curiosities/indiana-jones-and-the-church-of-san-barnaba-in-venice |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=www.venetoinside.com}}</ref>

=== Photography ===
[[Fulvio Roiter]] was the pioneer in artistic photography in Venice,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Biolchini |first1=Stefano |title=Addio a Fulvio Roiter. Era sua la più bella Venezia in bianco nero |trans-title=Goodbye to Fulvio Roiter. It was his most beautiful Venice in black and white. |url=http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/cultura/2016-04-19/addio-fulvio-roiter-era-sua-piu-bella-venezia-bianco-nero-163156.shtml?uuid=ACyXppAD |access-date=19 April 2016 |work=[[Il Sole 24 Ore]] |date=19 April 2016 |language=it}}</ref> followed by a number of photographers whose works are often reproduced on postcards, thus reaching a widest international popular exposure.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} [[Luca Zordan]], a New York City based photographer was born in Venice.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thechildrenofsouthafrica.org/ |title=Children of South Africa |website=www.thechildrenofsouthafrica.org |access-date=29 November 2019}}</ref>

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Venetian cuisine|Veneto wine}}
Venetian cuisine is characterized by seafood, but also includes garden products from Sant'Erasmo island, rice from the mainland, game, and [[polenta]]. Venice is not known for a particular cuisine of its own: it combines local traditions with influences stemming from age-old contacts with distant countries.{{clarify|date=August 2015}} These include ''[[Sarde in saor|sarde in saór]]'' (sardines marinated to preserve them for long voyages); ''[[Baccalà mantecato|bacalà mantecato]]'' (a recipe based on Norwegian [[stockfish]] and extra-virgin olive oil); ''bisàto'' (marinated eel); ''risi e bisi'' – rice, peas and (unsmoked) bacon;<ref>Ranieri da Mosto, ''Il Veneto in cucina'', Firenze, Aldo Martello-Giunti, 1974, p. 57; Mariù Salvatori de Zuliani, ''A tola co i nostri veci. La cucina veneziana'', Milano, Franco Angeli, 2008, p. 63</ref> ''fegato alla veneziana'', Venetian-style veal liver; ''risi e bisi'' (rice and beans); ''risòto col néro de sépe'' (risotto with cuttlefish, blackened by their own ink); [[Cicchetti|''cichéti'']], refined and delicious tidbits (akin to ''tapas''); ''antipasti'' (appetizers); and ''[[prosecco]]'', sparkling light -body white wine.

In addition, Venice is known for the golden, oval-shaped cookies called ''[[baicoli|baìcoli]]'', and for other types of sweets, such as: ''pan del pescaór'' (bread of the fisherman); cookies with almonds and pistachio nuts; cookies with fried Venetian cream, or the ''bussolài'' ([[butter biscuit]]s and [[shortbread]] made in the shape of a ring or an "S") from the island of Burano; the ''galàni'' or ''cróstoli'' ([[angel wings]]);<ref group="note">In other areas of Italy similar sweets are known by many other names, e.g. ''cénci'' (rags) (Florence), ''frappe'' (flounces) (Rome), ''bugìe'' (lies) (Turin, Genoa, etc.), ''mandolato'' (almond turron crunch); ''chiàcchiere'' (chatter) (Milan and many other places in northern, central and southern Italy). Vid.: Pellegrino Artusi, ''La Scienza in cucina e l'Arte di mangiar bene'', 93ª ristampa, Firenze, Giunti, 1960, p. 387, #595; Ranieri da Mosto, ''Il Veneto in cucina'', Firenze, Aldo Martello-Giunti, 1974, p. 364; Luigi Veronelli (edited by), ''Il Carnacina'', 10th ed., Milano, Garzanti, 1975, p. 656, #2013; to name but a few.</ref> the ''frìtole'' (fried spherical doughnuts); the ''fregolòtta'' (a crumbly cake with almonds); a milk pudding called ''rosàda''; and cookies called ''zaléti'', whose ingredients include yellow maize flour.<ref>Mariù Salvatori de Zuliani, ''A tola co i nostri veci. La cucina veneziana'', Milano, Franco Angeli, 2008, pp. 449–450</ref>

The dessert [[tiramisu|tiramisù]] is generally thought to have been invented in [[Treviso]] in the 1970s,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/17/italian-regions-battle-over-who-invented-tiramisu-in-long-runnin/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/17/italian-regions-battle-over-who-invented-tiramisu-in-long-runnin/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Italian regions battle over who invented tiramisu |first=Nick |last=Squires |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 May 2016 |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and is popular in the [[Veneto]] area.

=== Fashion and shopping ===
[[File:Ponte di Rialto shops Venice 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Luxury shops and boutiques along the [[Rialto Bridge]]]]

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 Venetian Senate passed [[sumptuary law]]s, 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 resulting in the spread of men's "slashed" fashions in the 15th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Today, Venice is a major fashion and shopping centre; not as important as [[Milan]], [[Florence]], and Rome, but on a par with [[Verona]], [[Turin]], [[Vicenza]], [[Naples]], and [[Genoa]]. [[Roberta di Camerino]] is the only major [[Italian fashion]] brand to be based in Venice. Founded in 1945, it is renowned for its innovative handbags made by Venetian artisans and often covered in locally woven [[velvet]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Patner |first=Josh |title=From Bags to Riches |newspaper=The New York Times |date=26 February 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/style/tmagazine/t_w_p166_talk_patner_.html |access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref>

==International relations==

===Twin towns – sister cities===
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy}}
Venice is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref name="twins">{{cite web |title=Gemellaggi e Accordi |trans-title=Twinning and Agreements |url=https://www.comune.venezia.it/it/content/gemellaggi-e-accordi |website=City of Venice |date=11 December 2017 |language=it |access-date=5 April 2020}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|HRV}} [[Dubrovnik]], Croatia
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Istanbul]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|IDN}} [[Palembang]], Indonesia
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia
*{{flagicon|BIH}} [[Sarajevo]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]], China
*{{flagicon|EST}} [[Tallinn]], Estonia
*{{flagicon|ARM}} [[Yerevan]], Armenia
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Odesa]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Aksaray]], Turkey
{{div col end}}

In 2013, Venice announced that it wants to end the sister city relationship with St. Petersburg in opposition to laws Russia had passed against homosexuals and those who support gay rights.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Glennisha |title=Venice To Cut Ties With St. Petersburg Over Anti-Gay Law |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/venice-st-petersburg-anti-gaw-propaganda-law_n_2576044.html |access-date=17 October 2013 |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=30 January 2013}}</ref>

===Cooperation agreements===
In January 2000, the City of Venice and the Central Association of Cities and Communities of Greece (KEDKE) established, in pursuance to [[Regulation (European Union)|EC Regulation]] No. 2137/85, the Marco Polo System [[European economic interest grouping|European Economic Interest Grouping]] (E.E.I.G.), to promote and realise European projects within transnational cultural and tourist fields, particularly in reference to the preservation and safeguarding of artistic and architectural heritage.<ref name="twins" />

In April 2001, the city signed an agreement with the office of cultural promotion and cooperation of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] to coordinate efforts at promoting Italian culture abroad.<ref name="twins" />

Venice also has cooperation agreements with:<ref name="twins" />
* [[Lübeck]], Germany (1979)
* [[Nuremberg]], Germany (1999)
* [[Qingdao]], China (2001, Science and Technology Partnership)
* [[Thessaloniki]], Greece (2003)
* [[Miami]], United States (2020)

===Places named after Venice===
The name "[[:wikt:Venezuela|Venezuela]]" is a Spanish diminutive of Venice (''Veneziola'').<ref>{{cite book |title=A Voyage to the Eastern Part of Terra Firma, Or the Spanish Main, in South-America, During the Years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 |url=https://archive.org/details/avoyagetoeaster00ponsgoog |first=François Joseph |last=Pons |publisher=I. Riley and Company |year=1806 |page=xi}}</ref><br />Many additional places around the world are named after Venice, such as:
* [[Venice, Los Angeles]], home of Venice Beach
* [[Venice, Alberta]], in Canada
* [[Venice, Florida]], city in Sarasota County
* [[Venice, Louisiana]]
* [[Little Venice, London]]
* [[Venise-en-Québec, Québec]]

== People ==
Others closely associated with the city include:

[[File:Bernardo Strozzi - Claudio Monteverdi (c.1630).jpg|thumb|140px|[[Claudio Monteverdi]], {{circa|1630}}]]
[[File:Albinoni.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Tomaso Albinoni]]]]

=== Music ===
* [[Andrea Gabrieli]] ({{circa|1510}}–1586), Italian composer and organist at [[St Mark's Basilica]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Gabrieli, Giovanni |volume=11 |page=381; see line 2 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Giovanni Gabrieli]] (1554/1557–1612), composer and organist at St Mark's Basilica<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Gabrieli, Giovanni |volume=11 |page=381 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Claudio Monteverdi]] (1567–1643), composer, string player, choirmaster and Catholic priest<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Monteverde, Claudio |volume=18 |page=778 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Francesco Cavalli]] (1602–1676), [[baroque music|baroque]] composer<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Cavalli, Francesco |volume=5 |page=563 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Barbara Strozzi]] (1619–1677), composer and singer
* [[Tomaso Albinoni]] (1671–1751), baroque composer<ref>{{cite book |last=Domenico |first=Roy Palmer |title=The Regions of Italy: A Reference Guide to History and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ-PMNC5XOkC&pg=PA379 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2002 |page=379 |isbn=9780313307331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Albinoni, Tomasso |volume=1 |page=510 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Antonio Vivaldi]] (1678–1741), composer and violinist of the Baroque Era
* [[Domenico Montagnana]] (1686–1750), Italian master [[luthier]]. He made the [[violin]] and [[cello]].
* [[Pietro Guarneri]] (1695–1762), luthier, settled in Venice 1717, ''Peter of Venice''<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Guarnieri |volume=12 |page=660 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]] (1749–1838), opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]].
* [[Domenico Dragonetti]] (1763–1846), double bass virtuoso and composer<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Dragonetti, Domenico |volume=8 |page=468 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari]] (1876–1948), Italian composer, mostly of comic opera
* [[Virgilio Ranzato]] (1883–1937), Italian composer and violinist
* [[Bruno Maderna]] (1920–1973), Italian-German orchestra director and music composer
* [[Luigi Nono (composer)|Luigi Nono]] (1924–1990), leading composer of instrumental and electronic music
* [[Giuseppe Sinopoli]] (1946–2001), conductor and composer
* [[Claudio Ambrosini]] (born 1948), composer and conductor<ref>{{cite book |last=Elmer |first=Michele |title=Imagine Math 2: Between Culture and Mathematics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IjFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |date=4 October 2013 |page=11 |isbn=9788847028890}}</ref>
* [[Giovanni Gallo (choreographer)|Giovanni Gallo]] ({{floruit|1726|1749}}), Italian choreographer of ballets within operas<ref name="Grove">{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Irene Alm|date=2002|entry=Gallo [Galli, Galletto], Giovanni |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006334}}</ref>

[[File:Tintoretto-selfport.jpg|thumb|140px|[[Tintoretto]], self portrait, 1588]]

=== Painting ===
* [[Giovanni Bellini]] ({{circa|1430}} – 1516), Renaissance painter from the Bellini family of painters<ref>{{cite news |title=Bellini masterpieces at the Getty make for one of the year's best museum shows |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-bellini-getty-review-20171013-htmlstory.html |last=Knight |first=Christopher |date=13 October 2017 |access-date=26 July 2018 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216094816/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-bellini-getty-review-20171013-htmlstory.html |archive-date=16 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Bellini |volume=3 |last1=Colvin |first1=Sidney |author1-link=Sidney Colvin |pages=700–703; see page 702 |quote=III. Giovanni Bellini (1430–1431–1516) |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Vittore Carpaccio]] ({{circa|1465}} – 1525/1526), Italian painter of the [[Venetian painting|Venetian school]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Carpaccio, Vittorio |volume=5 |page=382 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Lorenzo Lotto]] ({{circa|1480}} – 1556), painter, draughtsman and illustrator, in the Venetian school<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Lotto, Lorenzo |volume=17 |page=22 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Sebastiano del Piombo]] ({{circa|1485}} – 1547), [[High Renaissance]] painter and early [[Mannerism|Mannerist]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Sebastiano del Piombo |volume=24 |last=Rossetti |first=William Michael |author-link=William Michael Rossetti |pages=567–568 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Titian]] ({{circa|1488/90}} – 1576), leader of the Venetian school of the [[Italian Renaissance]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Titian |volume=26 |last=Rossetti |first=William Michael |author-link=William Michael Rossetti |pages=1023–1026 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Tintoretto]] (1518–1594), the last great painter of Italian Renaissance<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti |volume=26 |last=Rossetti |first=William Michael |author-link=William Michael Rossetti |pages=1001–1003 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Baldassare d'Anna]] ({{circa|1560}} – after 1639), painter of the late-[[Renaissance]] period<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Anna, Baldasarre |volume=2 |page=59 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Niccolò Cassana]] (1659–1714), late-Baroque painter<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Cassana, Niccolò |volume=5 |page=456 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Rosalba Carriera]] (1675–1757), Rococo painter, known for her pastel works<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Zelazko |first1=Alicja |title=Rosalba Carriera |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rosalba-Carriera |encyclopedia=[[Britannica.com]] |access-date=1 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/rosalba-carriera |title=Rosalba Carriera |access-date=26 July 2018 |work=[[The National Gallery]]}}</ref>
* [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]] (1696–1770), painter and printmaker. He painted in the [[Rococo]] style, Venetian school.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista |volume=26 |pages=963–964 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Canaletto]] (1697–1768), painter, known for his landscapes or ''[[veduta|vedute]]'' of Venice
* [[Pietro Longhi]] ({{circa|1702}} – 1785), painter of contemporary [[Genre painting|genre]] scenes of life<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Longhi, Pietro |volume=16 |page=981 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Giuseppe Santomaso]] (1907–1990), Italian painter
* [[Emilio Vedova]] (1919–2006), an important modern painter of Italy
* [[Ludovico de Luigi]] (born 1933), Venetian Surrealistic artist

=== Writing ===
[[File:Monument to Carlo Goldoni (Venice).jpg|right|thumb|140px|[[Carlo Goldoni]], notable name in Italian theatre]]

* [[Christine de Pizan]] (1364 – {{circa|1430}}), poet and court writer for King [[Charles VI of France]]
* [[Aldus Manutius]] (1449–1515), an important printer. He founded the [[Aldine Press]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Manutius |volume=17 |last1=Symonds |first1=John Addington |author1-link=John Addington Symonds |pages=624–626 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Jean-Antoine de Baïf]] (1532–1589), French poet and member of [[La Pléiade]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Baïf, Jean Antoine de |volume=3 |pages=214–215 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Veronica Franco]] (1546–1591), poet and courtesan during the Renaissance
* [[Paolo Sarpi]] (1552–1623), historian, scientist, canon lawyer, statesman, defender of the liberties of Republican Venice. His writings inspired [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[Edward Gibbon]], and the founding fathers of the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Sarpi, Paolo |volume=24 |last=Garnett |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Garnett (writer) |pages=221–222 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Leon Modena]] (1571–1648), author, poet and preacher, active in the [[Venetian Ghetto]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Leon of Modena |volume=16 |last1=Abrahams |first1=Israel |author1-link=Israel Abrahams |page=443 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Carlo Goldoni]] (1707–1793), playwright and librettist, notable name in Italian theatre<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Goldoni, Carlo |volume=12 |page=213 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Carlo Gozzi]] (1720–1806), playwright and champion of ''[[commedia dell'arte]]''<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Gozzi, Carlo, Count |volume=12 |page=305 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Elisabetta Caminèr Turra]] (1751–1796), writer and translator of foreign plays
* [[Frederick Rolfe]] (1860–1913), English author of the Venetian novel ''The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole''

=== Doges & public servants ===
[[File:Ritratto del Doge Andrea Gritti - Tiziano 059.jpg|right|thumb|140px|The Doge [[Andrea Gritti]], portrait by [[Titian]]]]

* [[Enrico Dandolo]] ({{circa|1107}} – 1205), [[Doge of Venice]] from 1192 to his death. He played a direct role in the [[Sack of Constantinople]] during the [[Fourth Crusade]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Dandolo |volume=7 |last1=Villari |first1=Luigi |author1-link=Luigi Villari |pages=801–802 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Pope Eugene IV]] (1383–1447), pope, 1431–1447, nephew of [[Pope Gregory XII]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Eugenius/Eugenius IV |volume=9 |last1=Hayes |first1=Carlton Joseph Huntley |author1-link=Carlton Joseph Huntley Hayes |page=886 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Pope Paul II]] (1417–1471), pope, 1464–1471. He succeeded [[Pope Pius II]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Paul (popes) |volume=20 |pages=955–957; see para 2 |quote=Paul II (Pietro Barbo), pope from the 30th of August 1464 to... |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Andrea Gritti]] (1455–1538), Doge of the Venetian Republic from 1523 to 1538
* [[Pietro Bembo]] (1470–1547), scholar, poet, literary theorist and [[Catholic Cardinal|cardinal]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=Pietro Bembo and the 'monster' of Bologna (1514) |first=Stephen D. |last=Bowd |journal=Renaissance Studies |volume=13 |issue=1 |date=March 1999 |pages=40–54 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |doi=10.1111/j.1477-4658.1999.tb00064.x |jstor=24412789 |s2cid=190702209}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Bembo, Pietro |volume=3 |page=714 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Sebastiano Venier]] ({{circa|1496}} – 1578), Doge of Venice from 11 June 1577 to 1578
* [[Marco Antonio Bragadin]] (died 1571), general, flayed alive by the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] after a fierce resistance during the siege of [[Famagusta]]
* [[Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia]] (1646–1684), the first woman in the world to receive a doctorate degree
* [[Jacopo Riccati]] (1676–1754), a Venetian mathematician. He wrote the [[Riccati equation]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Riccati, Jacopo Francesco, Count |volume=23 |page=288 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Pope Clement XIII]] (1693–1769), pope, 1758 to his death in 1769<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Clement/Clement XIII |volume=6 |last1=Collier |first1=Theodore Freylinghuysen |author1-link= |page=487 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Vincenzo Dandolo|Count Vincenzo Dandolo]] (1758–1819), chemist, agronomist and politician of the [[Enlightenment Era]]
* [[Daniele Manin]] (1804–1857), Italian patriot, statesman and leader of the ''[[Risorgimento]]'' in Venice<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Manin, Daniele |volume=17 |page=581 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Nurbanu Sultan]] (1525–1583), [[Haseki sultan]] and the [[Valide sultan]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the daughter of the first cousin of [[Sebastiano Venier]], [[Doge of Venice]].

[[File:Sebastian Cabot - S. Rawle after Hans Holbein, 1824.jpeg|thumb|140px|Engraving of [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]] by Hans Holbein, 1824]]

=== Explorers ===
* [[Marco Polo]] ({{circa|1254}} – 1324), trader and [[exploration|explorer]], one of the first Westerners to travel the [[Silk Road]] to China<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Polo, Marco |volume=22 |last1=Yule |first1=Henry |author1-link=Henry Yule |last2=Beazley |first2=Charles Raymond |author2-link=Charles Raymond Beazley |pages=7–11 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]] ({{circa|1484}} – 1557), [[List of explorers|explorer]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Biddle |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Biddle |title=A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot: With a Review of the History of Maritime Discovery |url=https://archive.org/details/amemoirsebastia01biddgoog |publisher=Carey and Lea |year=1831 |page=[https://archive.org/details/amemoirsebastia01biddgoog/page/n80 68]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Cabot, John |volume=4 |last1=Biggar |first1=Henry Percival |author1-link=Henry Percival Biggar |pages=921–923; see page 922 |quote=His son, Sebastian Cabot (1476–1557)... |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Pietro Cesare Alberti]] (1608–1655), first Italian-American in New Amsterdam in 1635<ref>{{cite book |title=Genealogies of New Jersey Families: Families A-Z, pre-American notes on old New Netherland families |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4zStKaPmsEC&pg=PA941 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |year=1996 |page=941 |isbn=9780806314914 |first=Joseph R. |last=Klett}}</ref>
* [[Giacomo Casanova]] (1725–1798 in [[Duchcov|Dux]], [[Bohemia]]), Venetian adventurer, writer and [[womanizing|womanizer]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Casanova de Seingalt, Giovanni Jacopo |volume=5 |pages=440–441 |short=1}}</ref>

=== Architects ===
* [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472), architect, humanist author, artist, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Alberti, Leone Battista |volume=1 |page=502 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Baldassare Longhena]] (1598–1682), exponent of [[Baroque architecture]]
* [[Andrea Tirali]] ({{circa|1660}} – 1737), architect. He designed the pavement in the [[Piazza San Marco]]
* [[Giovanni Battista Meduna]] (1800–1886), architect, led reconstruction and restoration works of the [[St Mark's Basilica]] and the [[Teatro La Fenice|Gran Teatro La Fenice]], among others
* [[Carlo Scarpa]] (1906–1978), architect with a profound understanding of materials

=== Entertainers ===
* [[Marietta Zanfretta]] (1837–1898), high-wire dancer who found success in Europe and the USA
* [[Romano Scarpa]] (1927–2005), noted Italian creator of Disney comics
* [[Francesco Borgato]] (born 1990), Italian recording artist and dancer

===Sport ===
[[File:Dorina Vaccaroni.jpg|thumb|140px|Dorina Vaccaroni, 1986]]

* [[Ercole Olgeni]] (1883–1947), rower, team gold and silver medallist at the [[1920 Summer Olympics|1920]] & [[1924 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Erminio Dones]] (1887–1945), rower, team silver medallist at the 1920 Summer Olympics
* [[Dominic DeNucci]] (1932–2021), Italian-American professional wrestler
* [[Angelo Spanio]] (1939–1999), Italian footballer with over 280 club caps
* [[Ivano Bordon]] (born 1951), former football goalkeeper with 449 club caps and 21 [[Italy national football team|for Italy]]
* [[Roberto Ravaglia]] (born 1957), racing driver and founder of [[ROAL Motorsport]]
* [[Alessandro Santin]] (born 1958), racing driver
* [[Mauro Numa]] (born 1961), fencer and gold medallist at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Andrea Borella]] (born 1961), fencer, team gold medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics
* [[Andrea Cipressa]] (born 1963), fencer, team gold medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics
* [[Dorina Vaccaroni]] (born 1963), former foil fencer, three time medallist at the 1984, [[1988 Summer Olympics|1988]] & [[1992 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Daniele Scarpa]] (born 1964), sprint canoer, gold and silver medallist at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Carolina Morace]] (born 1964), former footballer with over 220 club caps and 150 [[Italy women's national football team|for Italy women]]
* [[Giuseppe Cipriani (racing driver)|Giuseppe Cipriani]] (born 1965), racing driver
* [[Tommaso Rocchi]] (born 1977), former footballer with 664 club caps
* [[Giovanni Paramithiotti]], founding chairmen and owner of [[Inter Milan]] football club

== See also ==
{{Portal|Italy|European Union|Cities}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[List of islands of Italy]]
* [[List of buildings and structures in Venice]]
* [[List of bridges in Venice]]
* [[List of churches in Venice]]
* [[List of car-free places]]
* [[List of painters and architects of Venice]]
* [[Outline of Italy]]
* [[Su e zo per i ponti]]
* [[Window blind#Venetian|Venetian blinds]]
* [[Venetic language]] – the ancient spoken language of the region
* [[Venezia Mestre Rugby FC]] – a rugby team
* [[Venice of the East]]
* [[Venice of the North]]
* [[Venice of the South]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{See also|Timeline of Venice#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Venice}}

====Academic====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bosio |first=Luciano |title=Le origini di Venezia |location=Novara |publisher=Istituto Geografico De Agostini}}
* [[Horatio Brown|Brown, Horatio]], ''Venice'', chapter 8 of ''[[Cambridge Modern History]]'' vol. I ''The Renaissance'' (1902)
* Brown, Horatio, ''Calendar of State Papers (Venetian): 1581–1591'', 1895; ''1592–1603'', 1897; ''1603–1607'', 1900; ''1607–1610'', 1904; ''1610–1613'', 1905
* Brown, Horatio, ''Studies in the history of Venice'' (London, 1907)
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Venice |volume=27 |last1=Brown |first1=Horatio Robert Forbes |author1-link=Horatio Brown |pages=995–1007 |short=1}}
* Chambers, D.S. (1970). ''The Imperial Age of Venice, 1380–1580.'' London: Thames & Hudson.
* Contarini, Gasparo (1599). ''The Commonwealth and Gouernment of Venice.'' Lewes Lewkenor, trsl. London: "Imprinted by I. Windet for E. Mattes."
* Da Canal, Martin, "Les estoires de Venise" (13th-century chronicle), translated by Laura Morreale. Padua, Unipress 2009.
* Drechsler, Wolfgang (2002). "Venice Misappropriated." ''Trames'' 6(2), pp.&nbsp;192–201.
* Garrett, Martin, "Venice: a Cultural History" (2006). Revised edition of "Venice: a Cultural and Literary Companion" (2001).
* Grubb, James S. (1986). "When Myths Lose Power: Four Decades of Venetian Historiography." ''Journal of Modern History'' 58, pp.&nbsp;43–94.
* Lane, Frederic Chapin. ''Venice: Maritime Republic'' (1973) ({{ISBN|978-0-8018-1445-7}})
* Laven, Mary, "Virgins of Venice: Enclosed Lives and Broken Vows in the Renaissance Convent (2002).
* Madden, Thomas F. ''Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice'' Johns Hopkins University Press.
* Martin, John Jeffries and Dennis Romano (eds). ''Venice Reconsidered. The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297–1797.'' (2002) [[Johns Hopkins University Press]].
* Muir, Edward (1981). ''Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice.'' Princeton UP.
* {{cite web |author-link=Gerald J. Oppenheimer |last=Oppenheimer |first=Gerald J. |date=2010 |title=Venetian'' Palazzi ''and'' Case: ''A Guide to the Literature. |publisher=University of Washington, Seattle |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/gerryo/venice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604034334/http://faculty.washington.edu/gerryo/venice.html |archive-date=4 June 2011 |access-date=7 February 2010}}
* Rösch, Gerhard (2000). ''Venedig. Geschichte einer Seerepublik.'' Stuttgart: [[Kohlhammer Verlag]].
* {{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Judith |title=Furniture: world styles from classical to contemporary |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7566-1340-2}}
{{Refend}}

====Popular====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* [[Ackroyd, Peter]], ''Venice: Pure City''. London, Chatto & Windus, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-7011-8478-0}}
* [[Horatio Brown|Brown, Horatio]], ''[[Life on the Lagoons]]'', 1884; revised ed. 1894; further eds. 1900, 1904, 1909.
* Cole, Toby. ''Venice: A Portable Reader'', Lawrence Hill, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0-88208-097-0}} (hardcover); {{ISBN|978-0-88208-107-6}} (softcover).
* Gayford, Martin, ''Venice: City of Pictures''. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2023. {{ISBN|978-0-500-02266-5}}
* [[Hugh Honour|Honour, Hugh]]. ''The Companion Guide to Venice''. 4th ed., 1997.
* Kaminski, Marion. ''Venice: Art & Architecture''. 2005.
* [[Jonathan Keates|Keates, Jonathan]], ''The Siege of Venice''. London: Chatto & Windus, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-70116-637-3}}
* Keates, Jonathan, ''La Serenissima: The Story of Venice''. London: Head of Zeus, 2022. {{ISBN|9781789545050}}
* [[Thomas F. Madden|Madden, Thomas]], ''Venice: A New History''. New York: Viking, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-670-02542-8}}.
* [[Mary McCarthy (author)|McCarthy, Mary]], ''Venice Observed'' (1956), Harvest/HBJ, 1963 edition: {{ISBN|0-15-693521-X}}
* [[Jan Morris|Morris, Jan]] (1993), ''[[Venice (Morris book)|Venice]]''. 3rd revised edition. Faber & Faber, {{ISBN|978-0-571-16897-2}}.
* [[John Julius Norwich|Norwich, John Julius]]. ed. ''Venice: A Traveller's Companion''. UK: Constable & Co. Ltd., 1990. Also published as ''A Traveller's Companion to Venice''.
* [[John Ruskin|Ruskin, John (1853)]], ''[[The Stones of Venice (book)|The Stones of Venice]]''. Abridged edition Links, JG (Ed), Penguin Books, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-14-139065-9}}.
* [[Andrea di Robilant|di Robilant, Andrea]] (2004). ''A Venetian Affair''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-1-84115-542-5}}
* Sethre, Janet, ''The Souls of Venice'' McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-1573-1}} (softcover).
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|Venice|voy=Venice}}
* [https://www.comune.venezia.it/ Città di Venezia] {{in lang|it}}
* [https://www.visitmuve.it/en/home/ Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia] {{in lang|en|it}}

{{Islands of the Venetian Lagoon}}
{{Province of Venice}}
{{Regional capitals of Italy}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Italy}}
{{Maritime republics}}
{{Cities in Italy}}
{{Authority control}}

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