Lecture 1 – Venice emerges: raising the Serenissima

At the beginning of the Christian era rising sea levels covered much of the coastal Veneto. Sea levels later decreased to leave a series of small islands whose natural evolution was aided by deposits from Alpine rivers which flowed into the northern Adriatic. The lagoon, dotted with these small islands, was formed via a kinetic struggle between fresh and salt water, and earth which fed the emerging marshes. From this unpromising beginning, early settlers used what they could as a foundation for rudimentary wooden housing. As Venice slowly arose, its thirst for building materials extended with wood coming from the dense forests of the lower Dolomites to the north, and white stone from the quarries of the Istrian peninsula to the east across the Adriatic coast. By the start of the second millennium, the families of Venice had begun to form their unique system of government presided over by a Doge, simultaneously constructing their palaces along its biggest canal. The Casa-Fondaco (a home warehouse) became the backbone of its emerging economy as the city’s trading operations continued to expand. The city’s prestige was further ‘blessed’ with the dubious acquisition of the relics of St Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, conferring on it a self-proclaimed exalted status, so useful as Venice sought power beyond its lagoon.