According to legend, on March 25, 421, refugees fleeing barbarian invasions on the Italian mainland founded a tiny settlement on a cluster of muddy islands in a saltwater lagoon. Most historians think Venice probably grew gradually over many years, but the city officially celebrates this date as its birthday. The early Venetians drove millions of wooden poles into the marshy ground to create solid foundations, then built houses, churches, and palaces on top. Beneath modern Venice, those ancient wooden pilings - protected from rot by mud and saltwater - are still holding the city up today.
With no good farmland, the Venetians turned to the sea. They built a powerful fleet of trading ships and over the centuries became one of the richest cities in the world, trading silk, spices, and glass with the Middle East and Asia. The famous explorer Marco Polo set out from Venice in 1271 and returned 24 years later with wild tales of China and the Silk Road. Venetian glassmakers on the island of Murano invented techniques so secret that the government would punish any worker who tried to leave the city and share them.
Today, Venice has more than 100 islands connected by around 400 bridges and 150 canals. Cars are banned. Mail is delivered by boat, ambulances are boats, even garbage trucks are boats. About 30 million tourists visit every year to ride gondolas, throw confetti at Carnival, and wander cobblestone alleys that haven't changed in centuries. Rising seas and tourist crowds threaten the city, but engineers have built giant flood gates to protect it. After 1,600 years, the city built on water is still floating proudly above the waves.
