Veneto is the most visited region of Italy, located on the north-eastern coast and stretching up to Austria. It is best known for the canals of its capital city Venice, though the region encompasses mountains, valleys, and deltas.
Veneto has been a focal point of arts, science, and industry for over two thousand years and is still flourishing today.
Venice
Veneto’s capital, Venice, is known as the City of Bridges and is widely considered one of the most romantic cities in the world. Built on 118 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice is home to stunning architecture and centuries of history.
It is also famous for the beautiful Murano glass that is created there. Other famous cities include Verona, home of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and Pauda, the site of one of the world’s oldest universities where Galileo once taught.
Landscape
Northern Veneto is mountainous and home to the Carnic Alps and the Dolomites. The Po Valley stretches from the mountains to the Adriatic Sea interspersed with a few hills. The majority of the population is on the lower plain, which also comprises the agricultural heartland of the region. Aside from tourism, the economy of the region is mainly industrial and agricultural.
Food and Wine
As elsewhere in Italy, cuisine is important in Veneto. Several wines come from the region, including Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Merlot and the sparkling wine Prosecco, the grapes for which are traditionally grown in Treviso.
The region is also known for its Asiago cheese and for the invention of Tiramisu. Polenta is popular and seafood is very common along the coastline.
Famous People
Famous composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi came from the Veneto region, as well as some other persons of import: The sculptor Antonio Canova was known for his marble nudes based largely on Roman mythology. Giacomo Casanova was an infamous womanizer and adventurer whose name is still used as a synonym for rogue. Nine popes have also come from Veneto.
Art and Architecture
Veneto is the setting of five of Shakespeare’s plays including the Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet. In many places, Roman architecture is still visible, and cities boast Roman forums and arenas.
Interspersed with the ancient and the modern are a number of well-known cathedrals, including the Romanesque Duomo di Verona and the Byzantine Basilica San Marco in Venice. The Bascilica of St. Anthony boasts a number of statues and reliefs by sculptor Donatello.
Millions of tourists come to Veneto each year in search of art, architecture, history, culture and cuisine, and they are certain to find what they seek in this diverse region.