Editing Tourism in Italy (section)

=== Venice ===
{{further|Venice|List of palaces in Venice}}
[[File:Panorama of Canal Grande and Ponte di Rialto, Venice - September 2017.jpg|center|thumb|400x400px|[[Venice]], with the [[Rialto Bridge]] in the background]]
[[File:Venezia Basilica di San Marco Fassade 2.jpg|thumb|[[St Mark's Basilica]] in [[Venice]], one of the best known examples of [[Italo-Byzantine]] architecture<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/WAI/eng/basilica/architettura/interne/fasi_costrutt.bsm|title =Basilica di San Marco|access-date =10 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150305102304/http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/WAI/eng/basilica/architettura/interne/fasi_costrutt.bsm|archive-date =5 March 2015}}</ref>]]

[[Venice]] is a city in northeastern [[Italy]] and the capital of the [[Veneto]] [[Regions of Italy|region]]. It is built on a group of 118&nbsp;small islands<ref name="UNESCO Venice">{{cite web |title=Venice and its Lagoon |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394 |website=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> that are separated by canals and linked by over 400&nbsp;bridges.<ref name="UNESCO Venice" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://venicegondola.com/en/the-bridges-of-venice-what-are-the-most-famous-bridges-list-bridges-in-venice/ |title=The Bridges of Venice – What are the most Famous bridges? |website=venicegondola.com |access-date=28 December 2021 |archive-date=15 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115031043/http://venicegondola.com/en/the-bridges-of-venice-what-are-the-most-famous-bridges-list-bridges-in-venice/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The islands are in the shallow [[Venetian Lagoon]], an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the [[Po River|Po]] and the [[Piave River|Piave]] rivers (more exactly between the [[Brenta (river)|Brenta]] and the [[Sile (river)|Sile]]). In 2020, 258,685&nbsp;people resided in the [[Comune]] di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical city of Venice (''centro storico''). Together with [[Padua, Italy|Padua]] and [[Treviso, Italy|Treviso]], the city is included in the [[Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area]] (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.univiu.org/rassegna_docs/corrieredellasera_06032011_micelli.pdf |title=Patreve, l'attuale governance non-funziona |date=6 March 2011 |publisher=Corriere Della Sera |access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref>

The name is derived from the ancient [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]] people who inhabited the region by the 10th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC.<ref name="urlOnline Etymology Dictionary">{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-date=5 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205085150/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Local Etymology: A derivative dictionary of geographical names |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_I2BulY4WvsYC |author=Richard Stephen Charnock |publisher=Houlston and Wright |year=1859 |page= [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_I2BulY4WvsYC/page/n243 288]}}</ref> The city was historically the capital of the [[Republic of Venice]] for over a millennium, from 697 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], and a [[staging area]] for the [[Crusades]] and the [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]], as well as an important centre of commerce—especially silk, grain, and [[spice trade|spice]], and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. The [[city-state]] of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial centre, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ |title=Finance Masters: A brief history of international financial centres in the last millennium |last=Coispeau |first=Olivier |date=10 August 2016 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=9789813108844 |language=en }}</ref> This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/venice.htm |title=Venetian Music of the Renaissance |publisher=Vanderbilt.edu |date=11 October 1998 |access-date=22 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614024356/http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/venice.htm |archive-date=14 June 2009}}</ref> After the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[Congress of Vienna]], the Republic was annexed by the [[Austrian Empire]], until it became part of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in 1866, following a referendum held as a result of the [[Third Italian War of Independence]].

Venice has been known as "La Dominante", "La Serenissima", "Queen of the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their [[architecture]], and artwork.<ref name="UNESCO Venice" /> Venice is known for several important artistic movements—especially during the [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance period]]—and has played an important role in the history of instrumental and operatic music, and is the birthplace of [[Baroque]] composers [[Tomaso Albinoni]] and [[Antonio Vivaldi]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chambers|first=David |title=Venice: A documentary history |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford |location=England |isbn=0-8020-8424-9 |page=78}}</ref>

Although the city is facing some challenges (including an excessive number of tourists and problems caused by pollution, tide peaks and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings),<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite magazine |last1=Worrall |first1=Simon |title=Tourists could destroy Venice – If floods don't first |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/if-venice-dies-salvatore-settis-tourism-flood/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018220249/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/if-venice-dies-salvatore-settis-tourism-flood/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 October 2016 |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |access-date=3 September 2017 |language=en |date=16 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Jonathan |title=When will Venice sink? You asked Google – Here's the answer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/02/when-will-venice-sink-google |access-date=3 September 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-cruise-ship-ban-55-tonnes-marghera-port-where-is-it-italy-a8044026.html |title=Venice just banned mega cruise ships from sailing through the city |date=8 November 2017 |newspaper=The Independent |location=UK}}</ref> Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has been ranked many times the most beautiful city in the world.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto2"/> It has been described by the ''[[The Times|Times Online]]'' as one of Europe's most romantic cities<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/breaks/article1936951.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507015418/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/breaks/article1936951.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 May 2009 | work=The Times | location=London | title=Europes most romantic city breaks | date=17 June 2007 | access-date=27 May 2010 | first1=Stephen | last1=Bleach | first2=Brian | last2=Schofield | first3=Vincent | last3=Crump}}</ref> and by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man".<ref>{{cite news|last=Barzini |first=Luigi |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/30/books/the-most-beautiful-city-in-the-world.html |title=The Most Beautiful and Wonderful City in the World|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 May 1982}}</ref>