Venice: A Timeless Cityscape

The very fabric of this place is imbued with the stuff of mythology. A city whose foundations rest on thousands of wooden pylons, driven deep into the lagoon's mud, supports an eclectic style of architecture that is uniquely identifiable.

Situated on the Italian northeast coast, Venice, through its powerful mercantile fleet and the establishment of fortified outposts along the Dalmatian coast, became key to the development of the Eastern trade routes. As the Republic grew in stature, the city's morphology coalesced both European and Eastern influences. However, by the 17th century, with its economic power in decline, "La Serenissima" had been relegated to the history books. Its legacy was the creation of an iconic sense of "Venice," the place.

The Magic of Venice Through the Eyes of Andrea Damiano

"No name is so magical as that of Venice; none evokes more directly the idea - and the ideal - of consummate perfection. Other cities may be more elegant or more glorious: none of them is as miraculous as Venice. To work a miracle, Venetians, it would seem, had to adopt a new nature, an aquatic, marine nature. Only thus can we explain the creation of such an unheard-of city, this jewel-casket filled with dazzling, awe-inspiring beauties. Venice is all the colours, all the music and, pre-eminently, all the dreams of the world."

An ethereal dream-catcher cityscape, filled with visual markers acting as memorials to the past, Venice is a place that, in some ways, has remained static in the linear march of history. A historical theme park, conjuring up "Albertian" scenes for the consumption of the tourist and photographer alike.