Overview
The Metropolitan City of Venice is a metropolitan city in the Veneto region, Italy, one of ten metropolitan cities in Italy. Its capital is the city of Venice. It replaced the Province of Venice in 2015 and includes the city of Venice and 43 other municipalities (comuni). It was first created by the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990) and then established by Law 56/2014.
The Metropolitan City of Venice is headed by the Metropolitan Mayor (sindaco metropolitano) and the Metropolitan Council (consiglio metropolitano). Since 15 June 2015, as the new mayor of the capital city, Luigi Brugnaro is the first mayor of the metropolitan city.
History
The area was settled by the 11th century B.C. According to legend, Antenor fled from Troy, leading the people of Eneti from Paphlagonia to inhabit the shores of the Adriatic. In 102 B.C., The Romans defeated the Cimbri and the Germanic tribes in the area, thus increasing their influence in the region to form the Regio X Venetia et Histria. The exact date when Venice was established is unknown. Still, about 570 refugees from the hinterland, especially from Aquileia, fled to the islands of the Venetian Lagoon to escape the frequent barbaric invasions. At that time, the territory of the province was part of the Byzantine Empire, belonging to the Exarchate of Ravenna. Over the centuries, Venice became more independent and in 697 it had its first Doge. With the destruction of Eracliana in 805, the capital was moved to Rialto (Venice).
In the Middle Ages, Venice became an important maritime republic, completely independent from Byzantium, and began its expansion into the hinterland. In 1260, the Ezzelini family was defeated. Threatened by the expansionist ambitions of the Visconti of Milan, in 1365, Venice began to invade neighbouring territories. By 1410, the Regio X Venetia et Histria had annexed Padua and Verona. By the 16th century, the Republic included territories from the Julian Alps to Crema, Istria, Dalmatia, Cyprus and part of the Peloponnese. In 1797, Napoleon invaded the Republic and, following the Treaty of Campo Formio, it was ceded to Austria. After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Austrian Empire founded a province of Venice on the Adriatic. In 2015, this was converted into the current metropolitan city.
Geography
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).