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The Veneto |
Capital: Venice
Major airports: Venice (VCE). Verona has a small
airport (VRN), but may also be reached from
Bologna (BLQ) or Venice. |
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Venice is both the capital of the Veneto and its
largest city - but not by much: it is an unusual
feature of the province that no single city
dominates, either economically or culturally.
Verona, Padua and Vicenza are almost the same
size as the capital, and each is an artistic and
architectural treasure trove in its own right.
Venice was born as a safe haven from invading
Barbarian tribes whose depredations forced the
coastal population to flee to a series of wretched
mud banks in the Venetian lagoon. Against all odds
the communities survived and gradually banded
together, in the 6th century under Byzantium and a
century later under an elected, local leader - the
Doge. Trading links established during Crusades
made Venice rich and allowed it to expand its
power over territories stretching as far as the Black
Sea. The long period of decline began with Charles
V’s Sack of Rome in 1527, but it was not until
Napoleon dismantled the Venetian Republic in 1797
that the city’s fate was sealed. Since then it has
changed relatively little externally - if you discount
the modern shop windows, the motoscaffi
(motorboats) and the fact that the whole place has
been sinking at a rate of 6cm/2.5 inches per
decade.
At the opposite end of the Veneto, to the east of
beautiful Lake Garda, lies Verona. Verona simply
has it all, from one of Rome’s largest intact
amphitheatres to a wealth of Renaissance
architecture and paintings. Unlike Venice, Verona is
a living, breathing city which owes much of its
present wealth not to tourism but to the prolific
wine-producing areas which surround it: Bardolino,
Soave and Valpolicella. Within easy striking distance
of Verona are the cities of Trento and Mantua
(Mantova), as well as pretty Sirmione on the Lake
of Garda. |
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