Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, with a population of 271,367 (census estimate 1 January 2004). The city historically was the capital of an independent nation. Venice has been known as the "City of Water", "City of Bridges" and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man" Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.
The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century.
Small Islands
The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice 176,000 in Terraferma mostly in the large frazione of Mestre and Marghera; and 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon.