Venice Italy from space.. a Floating city

Earth From Space: Floating city, originally uploaded by europeanspaceagency.

The islands that make up the Italian city of Venice and the surrounding Venetian Lagoon are pictured in this image. Snaking through the central districts is the Grand Canal, with the Santa Lucia train station at its northern end and the Saint Mark Basin at its southern end. Zooming in, we can see water buses and taxis navigating the canal and gondolas docked along the edge. The square island to the north is San Michele. Once a prison island, it became a cemetery when Napoleon’s occupying forces declared burial on the main islands unsanitary.

This image was acquired on 22 June 2008 by Ikonos-2, a commercial satellite that provides panchromatic and multispectral high-resolution imagery. ESA is supporting Ikonos-2 as a Third Party Mission, which means that the Agency uses its multi-mission European ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data from the satellite to its wide scientific user community.

High resolution versions of this image can be found at: www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM44R0UDSG_index_1.html

Venice Accademia , when Grand Canal is a sleep, Italy

Venice Accademia , when Grand Canal is a sleep , originally uploaded by janusz l.

Looking towards southern end of Grand Canal and Chiesa della Salute - Church of Santa Maria della Salute.
In October of 1630, after nearly a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens had been killed by plague, the Venetian Senate made an offer to God: "Stop the plague, and we'll build a church to honor the Virgin Mary."
I was looking for something for the competition and the subject is “ Night “ and I wondered off to Venice. It seams that every time I open files from Venice I find something that I missed before.
What I miss the most it the Venice itself. I would love to go back

St Mark's Campanile, Venice

St Mark's Campanile, Venice, originally uploaded by sminky_pinky100.

St Mark's Campanile (Campanile di San Marco in Italian) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, located in the square (piazza) of the same name. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.

The tower is 98.6 meters tall, and stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a plain brick square shaft, 12 meters a side and 50 meters tall, above which is the arched belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show walking lions and the female representation of Venice (la Giustizia: Justice). The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. As it stands today, however, the tower is a reconstruction, completed in 1912 after the collapse of 1902.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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the ultimate fate of Venice

Sitting as it does on top of the water, Venice has always been vulnerable to flooding. In the 20th century, though, flooding began to look like a permanent possibility when the city started to sink. Now, entering the 21st century, Venice is no longer sinking--instead, the sea around it is rising.
Across the Venice Lagoon from the ancient city are the modern industrial cities of Mestre and Marghera. In the years following World War I, these cities began pumping water out of the ground underneath Venice to supply their growing populations. As the ground water was drained, the soil began to settle under the weight of the city above it.
Before the Italian government came to the rescue in 1973, Venice had sunk by as much as a foot. Two aqueducts were built to supply Venice's neighbors with water from the country's interior, and the sinking stopped.Unfortunately, whether due to the greenhouse effect or global climatic trends, water levels around the world are rising.
At the current rate, scientists say the Adriatic Sea around Venice could rise three feet over the next 100 years--which would be catastrophic for Venice.There's little Venice can do to prevent the sea from rising. However, to keep the city's buildings and streets dry during high autumn and winter tides, scientists have proposed Project Moses, which would install underwater barriers between the islands separating the lagoon from the Adriatic. These barriers could rise to block incoming waves. Environmentalists, however, fear that the barriers would disrupt the lagoon's ecology.
Charles Dickens once described the Venice Lagoon as an old serpent, "noiseless and watchful: coiled round and round." Only time will tell if the old serpent will ultimately swallow Venice whole.


"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

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Venice carnival Το καρναβαλι της Βενετιας

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler






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Venice an abstract ...αιωνια Βενετια

"Eternal Venice sinking by degrees
Into the very water that she lights;"
Edgar Bowers (b. 1924), U.S. poet. 
The Stoic: for Laura von Courten (l. 19-20).




"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Travel to Venice ..Experience La Dolce Vita

Venice is a cradle for the romantic and the art enthusiasts. As it is very much associated with water, the romance honeymoon is taken a notch higher with rides in the iconic gondolas. A big percentage of tourists are couples on a so that really counts for how a lone traveler can feel a bit uneasy with so much love and romance floating around.

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Venezia ...Βενετία η πόλη των Δόγηδων

ένα πανέμορφο φωτογραφικό λεύκωμα απο την πανέμορφη Βενετία

Right before your eyes: Venezia

από το ιστολογιο Right before your eyes:

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Venice's Destiny: A Watery Grave? ...Βενετία, μια πόλη που βυθίζεται; (in English)

Sitting as it does on top of the water, Venice has always been vulnerable to flooding. In the 20th century, though, flooding began to look like a permanent possibility when the city started to sink. Now, entering the 21st century, Venice is no longer sinking--instead, the sea around it is rising.
Across the Venice Lagoon from the ancient city are the modern industrial cities of Mestre and Marghera. In the years following World War I, these cities began pumping water out of the ground underneath Venice to supply their growing populations. As the ground water was drained, the soil began to settle under the weight of the city above it. Before the Italian government came to the rescue in 1973, Venice had sunk by as much as a foot. Two aqueducts were built to supply Venice's neighbors with water from the country's interior, and the sinking stopped.
Unfortunately, whether due to the greenhouse effect or global climatic trends, water levels around the world are rising. At the current rate, scientists say the Adriatic Sea around Venice could rise three feet over the next 100 years--which would be catastrophic for Venice.
There's little Venice can do to prevent the sea from rising. However, to keep the city's buildings and streets dry during high autumn and winter tides, scientists have proposed Project Moses, which would install underwater barriers between the islands separating the lagoon from the Adriatic. These barriers could rise to block incoming waves. Environmentalists, however, fear that the barriers would disrupt the lagoon's ecology.
Charles Dickens once described the Venice Lagoon as an old serpent, "noiseless and watchful: coiled round and round." Only time will tell if the old serpent will ultimately swallow Venice whole.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -- Lao Tzu
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler