Download The Venetian Arsenal: The History and Legacy of the Weapons Industry that Made Venice the Mediterranean's Strongest Naval Power AudioBook Free
The mystical floating city of Venice has motivated awe for generations and is still one of the very most visited European places once and for all reason. Vacationers are drawn to the stunning mixture of traditional, Gothic, and Renaissance-inspired structures across the picturesque towns and villages, the lovely open-air markets, the mouthwatering traditional cuisine, and of course, the famous gondolas drifting down the twinkling blue waters. While these gondolas, along with the time-honored types of the Venetian vessels docked in the harbors, are one of the city's most defining landmarks, their origins are shrouded in a far more obscure part of Venetian history. To the first settlers of the unpromising, marshy islands of Venice in the fifth century BCE, it appeared to be any attempt at civilization was doomed to fail. Yet, even with the cards stacked against them, the artful inhabitants mastered the unlivable landscape and little by little pieced along a society that would put the small, unassuming city right on the map. With time, the city improved into the most effective maritime empire in all of Europe. And behind this flourishing nautical force was the interconnected system of shipyards and armories - the legendary Venetian Arsenal.
