VENICE. 



of monies, twenty-fix nunneries, feventeen rich hofpitals, 

 eighteen oratories, forty religious fraternities with their cha- 

 pels, and fifty-three fquares. The buildings, indeed, are 

 all of ftone ; but the greater part mean, without beauty or 

 elegance. St. Mark's fquare, it is true, is very fine, and 

 fo are the feveral ftately marble palaces that border upon the 

 grand canal, though mod of them are of Gothic architec- 

 ture. In the churches and convents, the molt admirable 

 parts are the paintings ; and indeed Venice, highly renowned 

 for fine paintings, is faid, in this very refpeft, to have fnr- 

 paffed even Rome itfelf. Venice, from the fertility of its 

 neighbourhood, and the facihty of carriage, enjoys a con- 

 ftant plenty. The fpring-water being very indifferent, 

 almoft every houfe has a ciftern, into which the rain-water is 

 conveyed from the roof, and clarified by being filtrated 

 through fand. Water is alfo brought from the river Brenta, 

 and preferved in cifterns. Among the diverfions of Venice, 

 the carnival is accounted the chief: it ufually begins the fe- 

 cond day of Chriftmas, and continues till Shrove-Tucfday ; 

 confifting chiefly of mafquerades and ridottos : St. Mark's 

 place is the general rendezvous. Other diverfions are plays 

 aiid operas. The trade in cloth, efpecially fcarlet, filk 

 goods, and looking-glafTes, is ftill very confiderable. Here 

 alfo gold and filver ftuffs are manufaftured ; which, although 

 not fo beautiful as thofe of France, have a very good fale in 

 the Levant. The brocatellas, a kind of ftufF like brocade, 

 made of coarfe filk, are much ufed for carpets. Venice is 

 divided into fix parts, called Sejlierte di Seftteria. S. Marco 

 contains thepiazzo di S. Marco, with the adjacent buildings. 

 This fquare, the pride of the city, forms a right angle, the 

 fhorteft fide of which, two hundred and forty paces long, 

 and feventy-five broad, reaches along the ducal palace. The 

 ducal palace, towards the water-fide and St. Mark's place, 

 is entirely Gothic ; but on the ilde of the fmall canal, and 

 in the court, of modern architefture, and moftly of marble. 

 It not only ferved for the refidence of the doge, but alfo 

 for the meeting of the council. The fined ornaments of the 

 counoil-chamber and other apartments, are the paintings of 

 famous ancient mafters. In one fide of the palace, towards 

 the canal, Rio di palazzo, were dark prifons, ftrongly fe- 

 cured with iron grates. The lower gallery, or arched walk, 

 on the fide of St. Mark's fquare, together with the oppo- 

 fite hall, is called Broglio. Here, at a certain hour of the 

 day, the nobles took their walks, and at this time no Venetian 

 of an inferior rank muil be feen on it ; though a foreigner, as 

 fuppofed unacquainted with the cuftom, is not defired to 

 quit the place. Between thefe two buildings and the piazza 

 were two pillars of Oriental granite, on one of which Hood 

 St. Mark's lion in brafs, and on the other a marble ftatue of 

 St. Theodore. Between thefe is the place for the public 

 execution of malefaftors, through which no nobleman is ever 

 feen to pafs. A galley, completely rigged and armed, 

 lay clofe to the Broglio, for the defence of the ducal 

 palace on any fudden emergency. Contiguous to the north 

 part of the doge's palace is St. Mark's church, alfo ftiled 

 the doge's chapel. Its materials juftly entitle it to be called 

 magnificent, being, both on the out and infide, covered with 

 fine marble ; but the architefture is entirely Gothic. The 

 beft part of it confifts of the Mofaic paintings, and the four 

 brafs horfts, formerly gilt, ftanding over the great door, and 

 faid to have been brought here from Confta.itinople. In the 

 church treafury is kept a very famous manufcript of the 

 gofpel of Sc. Mark, pretended to be autographical ; but 

 the dampnefs of the place where it lies has fpoiled it to fuch 

 a degree, that no part of it is any longer legible, and it is 

 />ot fo much as certain whether it be written in Latin or 

 Greek. In the Sefticria di Caftello is the arfenal or dock, 



10 



two Italian miles and a half in circuit, walled and moatetJ- 

 in, with twelve towers along its walls ; and within the in- 

 clofure a great variety of buildings, in which every thing re- 

 quifite tor a land or fea armament is kept in readinefs ; with 

 fhops, ftore-houfes, and bafons and flips for lliip-building, 

 &c. Within it lie the men of war, frigates, galleys, and 

 other vefTels, with the Bucentauro, which is alfo laid up 

 here. In the Seftiera di Canale Regio is the theatre, and in 

 this quarter the Jews live, to the amount of fifteen hundred, 

 who mull wear a fcrap of red cloth in their hats, by way of 

 dillindion from Chriftians. Seftiera di S. Pavolo contains 

 the exchange, the bank, &c. On the invafion of Italy, in 

 the fifth century, by the Huns, under their king Attik, and 

 the general defolation that every where appeared, great num- 

 bers of the people who lived near the Adriatic took flielter 

 in thofe iflands where now ftands the famous city of Venice ; 

 and which iflands, about the year 421, particularly Rialto, 

 had, in fome meafure, been built upon by the Padvians, for ' 

 the advantage of commerce. (See Venetia. ) Here having 

 fettled their fmall places or ftates, they were at firft governed , 

 by confuls ; afterwards by tribunes ; and formed a kind of j 

 republic, the council of which was reprefented by the perfons | 

 of thefe magiftrates. Thefe iflands became ftill better inha- 

 bited on the fucceeding incurfions of the Goths and Longo-J 

 bardi into Italy ; multitudes from Rome and other larg^ 

 cities repairing thither, fo that this ftate became foon able to 

 make fome head againft thefe bold invaders. At length the 

 chiefs of the iflands and the Longobardi came to an agreeJ 

 ment, by which the former were to remain unmolefted. Thjn 

 was the commencement of the city and ftate of Venice.! 

 About the beginning of the eighth, or end of the feventh 

 century, the former government of thefe iflands was abohfhed, 

 and an unlimited power conferred on Paulucio Anafefto, with , 

 the title of duke. Under this fovereignty the ftate greatlyj 

 increafed, till the people, juftly becoming weary of the ills 

 of domeftic defpotifm, chofe, in the year 1171, another! 

 duke, but curtailed his power, by affigning him a council o£l 

 240 pcrfons, compoled of commons as well as nobles. 

 Duke Ziani fided with pope Alexander III. againft the em- 

 peror Frederick, and obtained over him fuch a fignal viftoryj 

 at fea, that the pope prefented him with a ring, which he] 

 was to drop into the Adriatic, as a fign of his marriage vpith,! 

 and perpetual fovereignty over it. The Venetians, who had! 

 already extended their dominion into Iftria, Dalmatia, Syria,-! 

 Lombardy, and other places, made a very confiderable ac-l 

 quifition in the beginning of the thirteenth century, by pof- 

 fcfTing themfelves of the principal iflands in the Archipelago I 

 and Mediterranean, particularly that of Candia. From this) 

 time they alone carried on, at an immenfe profit, the trade-J 

 for Eaft India goods, which they imported from Alexan- 

 dria, in Egypt, to which place they were brought acrofs ! 

 the Red fea, and by the way of Suez. Under duke Ma- 

 rino MoroCno was introduced the form of elefting the doge ; I 

 and it was at this junAure that jealoufy and envy fomented 

 the war with Genoa, which, after continuing 130 years, 

 was atlaft put an end to by a treaty, in 1581. During this 

 war, duke Peter Grandonigo, in the year 1296, ordained that 

 the nobility alone fhould be capable of fitting in the grand 1 

 council. Thus the government became ariftocratical. In 1 

 the 14th century, the Venetians extended their poffcflions ia J 

 Lombardy; and, in 1473, the laft king of Cyprus ap- 

 pointed the ftate of Venice his heir. Towards the end of 

 the 15th century, the Venetian commerce, and confequently 

 power, began to decline, when the Portuguefe difcovered a 

 route by fea to the Eaft Indies, which opened the trade to 

 all nations. In the i6th centur)', the pope, the emperor, 

 France, and Spain, joining in a league againft them, they 



were 



