I


magine living in a bustling city without roads or cars. In the city of Venice, Italy, canals


take the place of streets, and boats carry people and goods all around the city. A house’s back door may open to a walkway, but from the front door you may step directly into a boat. Venice is surrounded by water. T e city sprawls over a group of connected islands in the


Venetian Lagoon. T e lagoon is a body of water that stretches along the Italian coast. Rivers feed freshwater into the lagoon, and a barrier island, or narrow strip of land, protects it from the rough waters of the Adriatic Sea. You might wonder why the early Venetians built a city in such a soggy location. T e


reason was protection from invading armies. Many of the marshy islands in the lagoon barely peaked above the water. Yet here, more than 1,500 years ago, people began to build houses and businesses. Buildings rose up on the islands, and the waterways between the islands became canals to


serve as transportation routes. Over time, the city’s secure location and easy access to ocean trade routes led to Venice becoming an important European center for world trade, the arts, and industry.


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