VENICE 



6051 



VENICE 



ENICE, ven'is, an Italian city at the 

 northern end of the Adriatic Sea, one of the 

 most beautiful and most interesting municipali- 

 ties in the world. It is unique, first of all, in its 

 situation, for it is built on a cluster of islands in 

 - Itered lagoon between the mouths of the 

 <> and the Po rivers. Thus appropriately 

 did Longfellow address it, in his Venice 

 White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest 

 S.> wonderfully built among the reeds 

 Of the lagoon. 



The city is a perpetual memorial of the great 

 periods of architecture, for its splendid cathe- 

 drals, palaces and public edifices represent the 

 mtine, the Romanesque, the Gothic and 

 the Renaissance modes of building at their 

 best. In literature it is renowned as the scene 

 of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays The 

 M< rchant of Venice. During the Middle Ages 

 city was one of the world's chief commer- 

 centers, and it can look back to a glorious 

 history. It is sometimes said that the Venice 

 of to-day shines in the reflected light of its 

 former greatness, for the city has an indescrib- 

 able air of sadness and decay. Byron had this 

 in mind when, standing on the "Bridge of 

 Sighs," he looked over the city and thus re- 

 flected on its past 



j sand years their cloudy wings expand 



.<la dying Glory smiles 



O'er the far times, when many a subject land 

 Look'd to the winged Lion's marble piles, 

 Where Venice gate In state, throned on her hun- 

 dred isles. 



it is still the "Queen City of the Adriatic," 



and a source of endless delight to the art I 



General Description, The city is situated 164 



s by rail east of Milan. The islands on 



ii it lies are nothing more than mud banks, 



in the unstable soil of which the buildings are 



supported by pile drivings. There are about 



16,000 structures on pile foundations, and these 



for the most part look down upon winding 

 canals instead of streets. Long, flat-bottomed 

 gondolas, painted black and with ends curving 

 picturesquely from the water, take the place of 

 the cab and street car of the ordinary city. 



The islands fall into two main groups, sepa- 

 rated by the famous Grand Canal, which fol- 

 lows a zigzag course from the railway station at 

 the northwest to the Doge's Palace on the 

 southeast. There are about 150 smaller canals, 

 and also a number of paved streets and pic- 

 turesque, crooked lanes. Four hundred bridges, 

 most of them built of stone, cross the water- 

 ways and contribute their element of charm and 

 fascination. Two of them, the Rialto and the 

 "Bridge of Sighs," are world famous. The for- 

 mer, in the heart of the city, spans the Grand 

 Canal by a single arch thirty-two feet hi ph. 

 and is lined with shops. The latter, which 

 crosses a narrow canal separating the state 

 prison and the Doge's Palace, is pictured in 

 these volumes, page 925. 



Piazza of Saint Mark. This celebrated square 

 deserves special treatment, for it is the center 

 of interest in Venice. Its eastern side is occu- 

 pied by Saint Mark's Cathedral and the Doge's 

 Palace. Saint Mark's ranks next to the Mosque 

 of Saint Sophia, in Constantinople, as a noble 

 example of Byzantine architecture. The Doge's 

 Palace (see illustration, page 1830) is an ex- 

 ample of Italian Gothic :ind is 

 noted for the beauty of n and for its 

 collection of paintings. The south 

 side of the Piazza is occupied by the New 

 Procuratie and the opposite side by the Old 

 Procuratie, two fine buildings represent! 

 the Renaissance styl- were the resi- 

 dences of former officials known as procurators, 

 and date respectively from 1584 and 1496. The 

 -t met urc is a continuation of a magnifi- 

 cent library building begun in 1536, which is 



