Venice

Venice or Venezia is a city in northern Italy, capital of the Veneto region, with a population of 271,663 people (estimation of 2004). The city stretches across numerous small islands in a lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. The Serenissima Republica (the Serene Republic) was a major maritime and commercial power during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Venice as a port of North Italy serves destinations such as Austria, Switzerland, Germany and other European countries.

Saint Mark’s Basilica

Saint Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco) is the major cathedral of Venice. It is considered an important example of Byzantine architecture in Italy.
It was constructed in 1100 based on the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. They started to construct it in 830 to house the relics of Mark the Evangelist that were transferred from Alexandria in 829.
In the beginning it was constructed in the Basilica style. Later on there were some Byzantine (11th century) and gothic changes (13th century). It has the shape of a cross with four domes, enclosing a central, larger one.
At the portico of the church there are four copper and gold horses that Constantine the Great took from the Arch of Trajan (Rome) and transported to Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople to the Franks (1204) they were transported to Venice and placed in Saint Mark.

The gondolas

Since Venice is constructed on top of numerous little islands, it is difficult even impossible for someone to get around by car or any other means. Thus, its residents use the gondolas and the water-buses to move through the water between the islands. The gondolas are long and narrow wooden boats and are usually the romantic choice for a ride among the magnificent buildings built on the water!  

Murano Island

In 1291 the glass-makers left Venice and moved to Murano Island, because the furnaces they used were very large and posed a great fire hazard for the city. This was the theoretical reason. The real reason, however, was that the authorities wanted this unique, up to then, technique developed by those people to be the secret best kept from the eyes of the competition. Thus Murano Island very soon became the greatest industrial zone of the world.