Every year, on March 25th, Venice celebrates its birthday! This year, like for many of us, it will be the second birthday celebrated during covid-19 lockdown! But this is a very special anniversary for Venice, the city turns 1600 years old! It’s a very important birthday! Why was Venice founded in the middle of the water? Let’s look at the most important stages in the growth of Venice!
According to tradition, Venice was founded on the 25th of March 421 AD. On that day, at Noon, they positioned the first stone of the church of San Giacometo. The 25th of March is also the day of the Annunciation. Venetians entrusted themselves to the protection of the Virgin Mary, the one who was able to give birth to the Son of God and his message of salvation. Of course, the most beautiful city in the world couldn’t have humble origins!
The first area where people started settling was the area of Rivoaltus. The name is due to the fact that it was located on an island slightly higher than the others. This is the area around the current Rialto bridge. The bridge was named after the Rivoaltus area. How come that people decided to settle and built a city in the middle of a lagoon? They had to face sand, water and mud, it wasn’t the perfect habitat for humans! You have to know that during the 5th and 6th centuries Barbarian invasions began. Italy was the scene of the ferocious raids of the barbarians and the lagoon was an ideal place to take refuge. That’s why people started escaping from the mainland and started settling in the islands of the lagoon. They had to work a lot to shape the islands and find the right technique to built resistant buildings. It is thanks to the hard work and commitment of those people that today we can admire the magnificent palaces and churches of Venice!
From the first settlements that started in the 6th century, the expansion of urban soil in Venice will continue for centuries. It was a long, hard and complex process. Venice overcame many challenges, some problems still require hard work and commitment! Thanks to the Mose project the city finally seems to be protected for the high tide and they are promoting new plans to encourage sustainable tourism. The city now is quiet and calm, covid-19 crisis has hit the economy of the city very hard! Venice will celebrate 1600 years with a sober party! But fingers crossed for next year! We are expecting you to come and enjoy the beauty of Venice soon with one of our tours! In the meantime…Happy Birthday Venice!