VENICE, ITS BEGINNINGS

The past few years have been replete with stories of masses of people moving from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria to other countries. The mass immigrations the result of peoples seeking to escape the ravages of war.

It is said history repeats itself. A true saying. Another mass movement of people seeking to escape rape and pillage, beheadings, destroyed homes and crops, and bloody corpses, occurred in the 100s AD. The area a portion of northern Italy on the Adriatic Sea.

Germanic and Hun invasions covered a period of five hundred years. First came the Visigoths in 166 AD. Then Attila and the Huns in the early fifth century.

The Roman Empire was in steady decline prior to and during this period. No longer the mighty power it once was.

Refugees from Roman cities and the nearby countryside abandoned their homes. They sought refuge in swamp lands that were a natural part of an area of Northern Italy sitting near the Adriatic. The swamp lands have also been described as marshy lagoons. 

The area was not a nice place to live. However, it did provide protection from the invading hordes. There was nothing of value in the swamp, nothing to steal. The invaders avoided the marshy lagoons.

There were those who lived in the swamp lands before those escaping joined them. They were known as lagoon dwellers. Looked down upon by their city neighbors Until they found it necessary to seek refuge with them. People were running for their lives when they sought protection in the marshy swamps.

To this point there is not yet a Venice.

Came the Middle Ages and those living in the swamps were confronted by a new problem. Flooding. Primarily from the Adriatic. The land became extremely muddy and marshy. It was becoming inhabitable.

The solution devised was to dredge the soil to raise the marshy ground above the tide water lines. Hills and islands were created. The empty earth filled in naturally with water. Canals were born. The people became nautical. They started using the canals for the transport of people and goods. The economy grew.

The people transformed what had initially been inhospitable surroundings into the architectural wonder known as Venice. Built from misfortune, Venice became one of the richest and most beautiful cities in the world.

Venice today consists of 117 small islands, separated by more than 200 canals, connected by 409 bridges. Its population 1.6 million.

There is a saying that big trees from little acorns grow. Venice is a perfect example.