Venice

Venice is known as the "Water City" and the "Pearl of the Adriatic Sea". This ancient city, built in the 5th century, was once the most important maritime trade center in medieval Europe. The Republic of Venice was also famous for its prosperous art, navigation and finance. The city's lifeblood is the canal. The Grand Canal runs through the entire city. Gondolas and motorboats replace vehicles to travel between the 177 waterways. St. Mark's Square, Rialto Bridge and the Byzantine-style St. Mark's Basilica constitute its iconic landscape. Venice is also an important art city. Artists such as Titian and Bellini left their masterpieces here, and the Biennale and Carnival continue the cultural vitality. However, rising sea levels, ground subsidence and over-tourism caused by global warming are threatening this fragile water wonder, prompting UNESCO to list it on the List of Endangered Heritage. The Venetians are protecting their millennium civilization through flood prevention measures such as the "Moses Project".