Descriptive Essay On Venice

“Water City”

-- Venice

Introduction

Venice is a famous “water” city that is located in the northern Italy and the Adriatic Sea. It is full of historical colors, and now becomes to a well-known tourist city. The urban area of Venice is less than eight square kilometers. It consists of 118 islands and 170 canals, which is distributed over the Venice like a spider web. These islands and canals are connected by about 400 kinds of various bridges. Boat is the only transportation in this city, and the waterways are the main roads of the city of Venice where has no vehicles, bicycles, and traffic lights. Some of the waterways are very narrow that can only contain one boat for passing through each time.

Venice has a famous Grand Canal in a “S” shape throughout the whole Venice. There are lots of famous spots along with the two sides of this Grand Canal, including the palaces, mansions, and churches in Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque styles that were built from 14th to 16th century. In weekdays, there are various boats shuttle in the Grand Canal, which likes a busy street. One of the most unique boats is the famous “Gondola.” In each Gondola has a boatman with uniform and straw hat who rows the boat while singing at the same time. In nowadays, gondola is mainly used for tourists.

At present, Venice is facing many problems, such as the invasion of floods, ground sinking, environmental pollution and other threats. In recent years, the phenomenon of flooding in Piazza San Marco occurs frequently. The Italian government and the government of Venice have taken many positive measures in Venice. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) also appeals to save Venice from the problems of invasion, sinking, and ...

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...ntrance and the open plaza; the comparison between the horizontal architecture and vertical tower; and the comparison between the stately Palazzo Ducale and the mysterious San Marco Basilica. These spaces and environments give a sense of rich and colorful. Piazza San Marco gives people a feeling of beauty, because it has a harmonious proportion. Piazza San Marco was described by Napoleon as the "The drawing room of Europe".

Piazza San Marco is the lowest point of the terrain in Venice, so when it has high tide, it is the first flooded place. When there is the heavy rain, the rainwater flows into the Grand Canal from the square’s drains. However, it gets trouble when it is at the flood tide of Adriatic Sea, because the water of the Grand Canal will get through the drains directly to the Piazza San Marco, and become the hydrops that happened every year.