Venice is an extraordinary city, unique in the world, and a UNESCO world heritage site. It is, without doubt, one of the most famous cities in the world. Yet even Venice – instantly recognisable to anyone with eyes – has the capacity to surprise. Perhaps not everyone knows that in Venice there are:
- Venice Lagoon, 550 square kilometres wide is Italy’s biggest wetland area.
- Venice’s oldest church: San Giacomo di Rialto – known by the Venetians as San Giacometo – founded on March 25th 421 A.C. which, according to tradition, is the birth date of Venice.
- One of Europe biggest State shipyards: the Arsenale, founded around the year 1104, to which Dante Alighieri dedicated four triplets of the Divine Commedy canto XXI Hell.
- The world’s oldest Lazzaretto (infirmary), founded in the year 1423.
- The first Italian Jewish Ghetto, set up in 1516.
- One of Europe’s oldest public museums: the Republic statue museum, inaugurated in 1596, today National Archaeological Museum.
- Venice’s oldest theatre still existing today: the Goldoni Theatre, inaugurated in 1622.
- World oldest casino, opened in 1638: Venice Casino.
- The theatre “risen two times from its ashes”: Teatro La Fenice, founded in 1792.
- The bell tower on July 14th 1902 and was re-built exactly as the original ten years later: the St Mark’s bell tower.
- Venice maritime defence: more than 100 military architectural buildings, built from the 15th to the 20th Century and located in the lagoon, in the littoral and in the mainland.
Marghera is the largest industrial hub in Italy, built in 1917 as alternative to Venice port, and an urban district designed according to the model of the garden cities by the engineer Pietro Emilio Emmer.
From “DeTourism”