Europe is filled with all kinds of gorgeous locales and vistas. View from the top of the Eiffel Tower are breathtaking! Roaming around the Roman Colosseum is exciting! Visiting the site of the former Berlin Wall is thought provoking! That said, there probably isn’t a more beautiful and dreamy locale than that of the canals in Venice, Italy. Sparkling waterways give way to historic architecture all across this amazing city. Renowned by both tourists and locales, Venice is a destination that many people have on their vacation bucket lists. Are you interested in learning more about this location? Read below for some great Venice Italy wall art facts!
Logs, Islands, Republics, Tourism & Locals
- Venice is a city that somehow manages to sit on top of water. Wondering how this engineering feat was accomplished? The answer is trees! Well, more specifically, logs. Venice is built on millions of petrified logs that were driven into the ocean floor below. These logs were made from Alder trees, which are famous for their resistance to the effects of water. These logs were first brought to Venice by boat from countries like Slovenia and Croatia.
- Although it is only technically one city, Venice is actually a formation of distinct islands. Wondering how many? Venice is formed of 118 islands. These islands are connected by over 400 bridges, with around 170 canals flowing between them. The actual city of Venice is located in a place called the “Venetian Lagoon,” which happens to be a world heritage site.
- Venice is known as being a part of Italy today, but did you know that this wasn’t always so? Over the past several thousand years, the area that we now know as Italy was conquered by all sorts of people. So many regions of Italy have shifted hands, that tracking the history of its regions is a fairly complicated task! Venice was an independent republic between the years of 697 to 1797, In 1797, Napoleon conquered the city and declared it part of France. France and Austria fought over Venice for a long time, until it eventually became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.
- Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. With that, comes lots and lots of annoying people. Venice gets an increasing amount of tourists every year; most recently, this small city experienced 20 million unique visitors!
- A side effect to the amount of tourism is the decreased amount of residents that are willing to live there. Although high tourism rates are just one of the reasons that people no longer want to live in Venice, there are actually several others. Cost of living has increased there, as well as sea level which has led to flooding. There are only 55,000 full time residents of Venice compared to 120,000 around 30 years ago. Read below for more Venice Italy wall art facts.
Sinking, Casket, Costs, Gondoliers & Cruises
- Due to the cataclysmic effects of global warming, Venice is unfortunately sinking! The city sinks about 1-2 millimeters per year, Specifically, the Adriatic plates that Venice sits on are slowly being driven into the sea thanks to the displaced water from global warming. Additionally, the man-made water extraction devices are also causing Venice to sink.
- Many cities around the world have interesting customs and occurrences. Venice is no different! Did you know that when the number of residents dropped below 60,000 in 2008, locals held a fake funeral to raise awareness about the decline? Residents transported a casket through the city on gondolas in order to draw attention the declining population.
- As previously stated, the cost of living in Venice is very expensive! An apartment in Venice can actually cost upwards of 1 million Euro! This is nearly $1.2 million USD! These high prices are driven by the amount of tourism; many of these houses are actually bought and turned into hotels and restaurants!
- Venice is well know for its gondolas and, in turn, its gondoliers. Did you know that one needs a professional license to become a gondolier? For centuries, the profession was actually handed down from father to son. Nowadays, there is actually a gondolier training course! These courses involve around 400 hours of training featuring tons of exams. Only 3 or 4 new licenses are granted each year.
- Venice locals absolutely hate cruise ships! Wondering why? They bring large amounts of pollution and displaces about 90,000 tons of water, which damages the Venetian Lagoon. They also bring around 30,000 tourists a day, many of which don’t inject much money into the local economy. Read below for more Venice Italy wall art facts!
Flooding, Bikes, Women, Color, & Tower
- As previously stated, Venice is slowly sinking. Due to the displaced water from the Adriatic Sea during Winter high tides, water has begun to flood the city. Flooding has become so bad that there are sirens and phone applications that warn residents about flooding ahead of time.
- Everyone loves riding bikes in exotic locales! Unfortunately, you can’t do this in Venice. In fact bikes aren’t the only banned mode of transport there. Skateboards and roller skates are also banned!
- As previously stated, becoming a gondolier is fairly difficult. Aside from that, it’s a profession that is very gendered. The entire field is male dominated. Did you know that in 2010, Venice welcomed its first female gondolier? Giorgia Boscolo, the daughter of a gondolier, is the first and, so far only, female gondolier.
- Want to ride in a red gondola? How about a pink one? Well, that’s not possible! Did you know that gondolas are mandated, by official law, to be painted black? A long time ago, gondoliers were allowed to decorate their gondolas however they saw fit. Since the outside of gondolas can no longer be decorated, gondoliers decorate the inside.
- One of the most iconic parts of Venice is the large bell tower in the city square. Did you know that the current one isn’t that old? St. Marks Companile, the tower’s name, was built in 1912 after the original collapsed in 1902. Did you enjoy these Venice Italy wall art facts?
Conclusion
Now that you know so much about Venice, what do you think? Do you long to visit one day? Maybe you want to ride on a gondola yourself. Or, you’d just like to sit at a cafe and gaze at Venetian people. Perhaps you’ve already been to Venice, and are now feeling a great wave of nostalgia! However you feel, we hope you learned something from reading this blog! Thanks for reading these Venice Italy wall art facts.