"Water,History and a lot of Romance " a Venice Travel Page by traveloturc

According to legend Venice was founded in 422 by Roman refugees fleeing from the Goths. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, by the Huns led by Attila. The last and most enduring was that of the Lombards in 568.The Byzantine domination in central and northern Italy was largely wiped out in 751 by Aistulf. In this period the seat of the local Byzantine governor (the "duke", later "doge") was located in Malamocco.Here were subsequently built the monastery of St. Zachary, and the first ducal palace and basilica of St. Mark. From the IX century through XII century Venice developed into a city state .The city became a flourishing center of the trade between Western Europe and the rest of the world (especially the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world).The Republic acquired control of most of the islands in the Aegean, including Cyprus and Crete,
Venice became an imperial power following the Fourth Crusade, which (with Venetian aid) seized Constantinople ( Istanbul ) in 1204 and established the Latin Empire.Unfortunately, this seizure of Constantinople would ultimately prove to be as much a factor ending the Byzantine Empire a half century later, the Byzantine Empire was effectively powerless until Sultan Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453. Considerable plunder was brought back to Venice, including the Winged Lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice. Only Venetian ships could efficiently transport the men, supplies, and (especially) war horses.After 1070 years, the Republic lost its independence when Napoleon Bonaparte on May 12, 1797, conquered Venice during the First Coalition. In 1866, along with the rest of Venetia, Venice became part of Italy.

February is the season of festival in Venice.You can imagine Casanova in the canals of this city of Love .Gondoles takes the places of horses since 1392...The only horses that you can feel now are the horse power of the motorboats