Venice is world famous for its stunning location on the islands in the lagoon of Venice, yet part of the city is located on the mainland. It is within one of these mainland districts, Favaro Veneto, that the Bed and Breakfast Giardino is located. The area is well served by public transport and it is only fifteen minutes to the historic city centre, with its romantic canals, gondolas and bridges.
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During the late middle ages Venice was one of the great Italian merchant and maritime states; the infamous Fourth Crusade fell by the wayside here. Unable to fully pay the money owed to Venice for the purchase of a fleet comissioned to take them to Egypt, Venice suggested that the crusaders aid them in recapturing the city of Zara, fallen under Hungarian rule. The city quickly fell (and for this deed the entire Fourth Crusade were excommunicated by the Pope), they then moved to Byzantium (again at the suggestion of the Venetians) where the city was attacked and ultimately sacked by the crusaders in an orgy of looting and violence.
This single act was the beginning of the Byzantine empire's decline at the hand of Venice. Some of the countless riches plundered can still be clearly seen today - among the art treasures seized by the Venetians were the four graceful horses that now stand above the portal of the Basilica of St. Mark, and the vast quantity of jewels and semi-precious stones that adorn the Basilica's Pala d'Oro.
When you walk along the alleys, or travel along the canals in gondolas, the sense of this city's past wealth and power that saw it as the primary merchant port beween the West and East still remains, and it will capture your heart as it has captured countless others throughout its history.
