The history
of Venice
The origins of Venice begin in
the fourth century, when, in the final days of the Roman Empire, mainland
refugees fled from the invading northern tribes into the lagoon.
Settlements were built on the boggy islands and higher mudbanks, and in
AD 726 these communities elected the first documented Doge, the ducal
ruler of the embryonic republic. By the ninth century, the majority of
the lagoons inhabitants were settling on the highest ground, the Rivus
Altus (Rialto), and work started on the building of the Doge's Palace in
AD 814. The city acquired a powerful patron saint in AD 828, when
Venetians stole the relics of St. Mark from Alexandria, and work started
on a basilica in his honor the following year.
In 1099, the city, now a powerful trading and ship-building maritime
power, provided ships for the First Crusade, and in 1204 the Venetian-led
Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople, acquiring much of the former
Byzantine Empire. The city continued to prosper as the supreme
Mediterranean naval power. The discovery of sea routes to India and the
Far East in 1498 marked the start of Venice's decline, and over the
following three centuries the city gradually lost its wealth in a frenzy
of spectacular consumption and revelry. In 1797 Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769-1821) invaded and the last Doge abdicated. Handed to the Austrians
by the triumphant allies in 1814, Venice became part of the newly united
Italy in 1866.
The 20th century saw ever-increasing tourist numbers, structural decay
caused by rising lagoon waters, population decline, and high pollution
from the neighboring mainland industrial centers. In 2003 work started on
the MOSE project, designed to control the destructively high waters which
still enter the lagoon from the Adriatic.
