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    A Sketch of Venetian History
    A Sketch of Venetian History
    A Sketch of Venetian History
    Ebook169 pages1 hour

    A Sketch of Venetian History

    By Sarah Pierroz

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    About this ebook

    A beautifully illustrated book exploring a unique take on Venice for curious travellers, lovers of history, art, architecture and the environmentally sensitive. This book also conveys a pervasive message of deep environmental and climactic concerns and the tragedy of how a Renaissance Empire has been turned into a contemporary amusement park. A Sketch of Venetian History will enchant, educate and challenge readers.Venice remains one of the jewels of Italy, of Europe, of the world. It is universally recognized as part of the artistic and architectural patrimony of humanity and in 1987 was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It receives over 22 million visitors each year!Since the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, Venezia has held an unrivalled place in the world's imagination and has inspired writers of prose and poetry, artists of all sorts, photographers, film makers, tourists and more. Yet, most people do not know the story of Venice. This book offers a unique portrait of Venice and weaves together many diverse subjects art, ecology, travel, history, all enriched by original line drawings of a unique style found on every page.A Sketch of Venetian History illuminates the Venetian Republic's history through six major eras from its early ecological formations, through its modest beginnings, to the height and potency of the Grand Republic, to its collapse and to its modern day challenges posed by environmentalism and massive tourism.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMosaic Press
    Release dateFeb 22, 2022
    ISBN9781771615860
    A Sketch of Venetian History

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      Book preview

      A Sketch of Venetian History - Sarah Pierroz

      introduction: c’era una volta

      (4000 - 1000 B.C.E)

      c’era una volta...(once upon a time...)

      there was a mountain and many rivers...

      Close your eyes and imagine a large, flat body of water ebbing and flowing into a shallow mudbank. There is not much here, apart from a few empty islands, the hollowing sense of a nearby, yet muffled, sea, some tall reeds and blades of grass piercing into the sky, and snow-capped mountains silently peaking in the distance. From a distance, these scattered islands appear more like the smooth backs of resting whales, rather than any sort of firm ground to build upon.

      This lagoon was formed over 6,000 years ago, where the mouths the Piave, Sile, and Brenta rivers came out to meet the flow of half a dozen others in the north-western corner of the Adriatic. Fresh water rushed down from the Alps and the Apennines, and along the way, relentlessly grounded the mountainous rock into a fine silt that was tossed out into the large, salty sea.

      Over years, estuaries pushed, pulled, and piled up the debris to form long, thin lines of islands, called lidi. They came to shield and protect the lagoon from the vast, open sea. All the while, the sediment continued to pour in. It shifted with the currents, creating a mercurial mix of wide floors and deep, elusive channels.

      Too shallow to hold deep sapphire Mediterranean blues, or bright, emerald green like the Adriatic, the lagoon usually presents a vibrant turquoise hue. Each drop of water steals shimmers and glistens in the light of the sun and of the moon, both equally splendid displays.

      Overall, the lagoon is at the mercy of the moon; it directs her tides to rise and fall, and wash over her islands. It keeps her waters shifting and moving, so much so, that everything stays in a quiet, constant state of flux.

      ...and a lagoon with a few inhabitants...

      Upon first impression, the lagoon must have appeared completely inhospitable, especially when the surrounding seas thundered against her shoals.

      Every now and then she was visited by a swarm of feverishly buzzing mosquitoes, some wriggling crabs, prawns, the odd octopus, a large school of migrating fish, some eels coming in with the tide, or a few aquatic birds finding nesting sites on the scrubby mudflats. Cranes and wild ducks would effortlessly careen in on expansive wings to snatch their next meal or float on her calmed waters for a rest. The waterbirds would bow and tilt their tall crowns of feathers in every possible direction as they shook their catch past their perfectly adept bills, deep down into their throats.

      The wildlife here experienced a sparse, yet rich, uninhibited existence. Even after the first human settlers crept in, the wildlife remained unharmed, tucked away, and safe within the secluded lagoon.

      ...then, a few passing visitors...

      From as early as three thousand years ago, more lively communities began to gather along the coastline. Populations scattered along the north-eastern edge of Italy, and built up the shores of present day Slovenia and Croatia. Yet, the distant lagoon remained largely isolated.

      From time to time a few fishermen, bird fowlers and salt miners ventured into the lagoon’s difficult shallows and sludge. In specially designed, flat-bottomed boats and barges, they navigated her iridescent waters, leaving ephemeral imprints. They memorized the lagoon’s vast network of uneven channels and marked her deep, elusive trenches with long, wooden poles.

      By closely observing the lagoon’s nature and temperament, they knew to return home before the wind swept in with the afternoon tide and chopped and churned the waters in a treacherous, heaving mass.

      Only the most skilled navigators, braved her daunting waters. Early in the morning, they cast their nets, chased migrating birds, or dragged and scraped the bottom of her salty ponds. These few were rewarded with brimming baskets for their families to share, store away, or trade with others on mainland, or terra firma. For the most part, the lagoon maintained a mostly anonymous, sedate existence, far removed from the mainland bustle.

      ...and an impossible dream of hope.

      In the second century B.C.E., as the Veneti populations came under Roman rule, the Emperor Augustus formally distinguished their region as Venetia. Their province extended from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, and from Istria down to the Oglio river. The lively city centres of Padua, Altino, and Grado soon emerged, and Aquileia was set as the region’s capital.

      The Veneti were mostly merchants who traded salt, honey and cheese. They were so skilled in the sea that they could reach markets in ports as far away as Greece. With increased trade and resources, their cities adopted characteristic Roman structures. Whilst elaborate forums, temples, bath houses, amphitheaters, and basilicas organized their communal spaces, the Veneti populations also stratified and came to express Roman political and social systems. Meanwhile, the peripheral waters of these developing coastal cities remained marginal, functioning at most as a distant port.

      With no solid ground, no freshwater stores, no fertile land, and no building materials, there was little reason for anyone to journey to this particular lagoon at all. It certainly seemed a place of impossible beginnings. And yet, this shallow stretch of sea became the birthplace of Venice. From here, from the very mud, like life itself, a thriving, dominating, elaborate empire emerged, reigned, celebrated and came to a tragic collapse. It may challenge the beautiful limits of your imagination to contemplate how so much ingenuity could have emerged from so little.

      Out of elemental simplicity, this backwater became a destination for incomparable opportunities, excessive abundance and flooding creativity. By the sixteenth century, a tourist guide had already acclaimed that the name Venezia must have derived from the Latin veni etiam, which professes to all to come back again to see this beautiful place.

      part one: starting point

      (5th century - 9th century)

      the barbarian invasion hideaway.

      The lagoon remained relatively undisturbed for thousands of years, but in the fifth century everything changed. The Roman Empire was beginning to collapse and more than one hundred

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