The history of Venice is quite vast as the city has been around for many years. Founded in 421 C.E. on April 25th or what is known as St. Mark’s day that of course is the icon of the city of Venice. The very reason the city was founded was because of the tribes of barbarians that would come down to sack the various Roman cities. It is out of fear and the preservation of culture that these islands off of the Italian mainland were built upon.
For many years the isolation of Venice kept it from being embroiled into the everyday politics of Italian life. Because of this Venice became a mercantile capital of the region and most likely was responsible for its later influence in world affairs. The city’s wealth came from the surrounding sea, from the salt and fish, that they could trade for what they did not have. From this humble beginning a glorious city was created.
The building of the city invented new and improved methods of construction. Because of each successive wave of invaders brought more and more refugees larger structures were necessary to house all the people. Land reclamation at that time was primitive and needed to be improved. The pilings that many houses of Venice sit upon were placed there over a thousand years ago and have never been replaced by something more substantial. It is this reason that the city of Venice is now sinking and efforts are in place in order to preserve it.
The city did not really become a cohesive whole until later when a sea wall was built to keep away pirates and the various storms. When the Venetians felt safe and isolated then the culture of the city and the later Empire started to come to fruition. So we can see that the start of Venice was really to keep home and hearth safe from barbarian hordes that were sweeping down into the Roman Empire. From fear arose a great city and Empire that would rival many other in the area. This city has been a haven for many others as well as this is a center for art and music as the wealth of the city started to be distributed to these craftsmen.
