This wonderful old city in Northern
Italy is called the
Queen of the Adriatic and stands on a group of mud
islands separated by three main waterways and more than 150 narrow
canals.
There are about 45 km (28 miles) of canals and the boatmen steer their
gondolas and motor launches along them with amazing skill. Thousands of wooden piles were driven into the mud to make foundations strong enough to support the buildings of Venice, some of which are the finest in the world.
The city is linked to the
mainland of Italy by a
railway viaduct 4 km (2.5 miles) long, and a roadway, the Littorio Bridge, which was built by
Mussolini and opened in 1933.