Venice

Venice in northeast Italy is situated on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon, which stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It was a major power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important centre of commerce and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice.