It is built on a group of islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by bridges. In , around , people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia , of whom around 51, live in the historical island city of Venice centro storico and the rest on the mainland terraferma. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance , and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto , as well as an important centre of commerce—especially silk, grain, and spice , and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th.
The then- city-state is considered to have been the first real international financial centre, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th century. Subsequently, in , the city became part of the Kingdom of Italy. In the 21st century, Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has often been ranked one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Although no surviving historical records deal directly with the founding or building of Venice, [ 23 ] tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees — from nearby Roman cities such as Patavium Padua , Aquileia , Tarvisium Treviso , Altinum , and Concordia modern Portogruaro , as well as from the undefended countryside — who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun invasions.
The traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto Rivoalto , "High Shore" —said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March the Feast of the Annunciation. Beginning as early as AD —, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the main Roman town in the area, present-day Oderzo. This part of Roman Italy was again overrun in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, by the Huns led by Attila.
The last and most enduring immigration into the north of the Italian peninsula, that of the Lombards in , left the Eastern Roman Empire only a small strip of coastline in the current Veneto, including Venice. Ravenna and Venice were connected by just sea routes, and with the Venetians' isolation came increasing autonomy.
