When I first visited, I thought Venice is too small, presuming just the place where Mark’s Basilica is in and around (San Marco). But, IT IS NOT. 

Venice is one of the larger cities in North-eastern Italy. It comprises of 6 main districts (called as "Sestieri"), collating more than a hundred tiny islands. San Marco is the main district, where all the top monuments and sights are situated. But there are other districts: Cannaregio, Castello, Santa Croce, San Polo, and Dorsoduro. The main island or Venice which also guards the Venice center is the "Lido" Island. Other remarkable islands are Murano, Burano, and Torcello.

Due to its geographical/construction limitation, the whole city of Venice is continuously sinking into the waters for the last few decades (at an approximate of 1 to 2 millimeters per year). On the other hand, the sea-level is also gradually increasing (global warming?). This is a serious concern for all the inhabitants of Venice, so why they are also constantly evacuating the city😔.

There were nearly 120, 000 people lived in the year 1966, whereas the latest census shows only 56,000 residents living across the Venice. When this “depopulation” trend continues, Geologists & archeologists believe that the whole Venice will be abandoned in another 30-40 years.

When that day comes, Venice will be seeing only the tourists - who visit during the day and run-away in the evening, like a Ghost town😨.

Other than the fact that it is sinking every year, the city of Venice did not change much in the last 600 years (amidst 20 million+ visitors a year). Yes, indeed there are some new cafes/ restaurants and shops, but the houses, streets and structures/constructions still remain the same as it was in the 15th century. That’s a unique thing that makes the city special.

I knew already that the whole Venice archipelago (a group of islands) is not natural, I was assuming it something like the “Polders” of The Netherlands – where the land reclaimed from the sea. But Venice has totally a different build-up, that made me awestruck.

Venice land was not directly reclaimed by evacuating the sea water; but was built over millions of wooden-piles. In the late 16th century, the Venetians tunneled 4-5-meters-long wooden piles across the sea-bed to form “wooden-platforms”. These platforms together made a sturdy basement and the entire city build over it.

Venice is pretty much a part of Italy today; however between 8th and 18th century, the “Republic of Venice” used to be its own country, traditionally known as “Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia (translated as the Most Serene Republic of Venice) “., comprising today's Croatia, Bosnia, Ionia, 

The Republic of Venice was once a magnificent economic powerhouse of eastern Europe till the 17th century, all the sea-way transport and trading on Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean waters were controlled by the Republic of Venice; literally there can’t be any trade between Europe and Asia possible without the knowledge of merchants, bankers and brokers of Venice. 

Lately, when the Turks invaded Venice (Turkish–Venetian War,) and the opening of new sea trade route to the Americas through the Atlantic Ocean started the decline of such a powerful economic empire of Venice.