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TRAVEL/TOURS ADVERTORIAL58 NADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 2016 www.nadfas.org.uk Above: The Grand Canal in Venice. Note the unusual chimneysRefl ected gloryVenice today attracts visitors from all over the world. But the city has been notably cosmopolitan for centuries. In Venice Observed, American writer Mary McCarthy refers to a medieval monk who commented – albeit rather disparagingly – on the Turks, Libyans and Parthians (from what is present-day Iran) thronging the Piazza San Marco. In the 19th century, English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley focused instead on VeniceÕs architecture, remarking that its Òtemples and palaces did seem like fabrics of enchantment piled to heavenÓ. The two observations link across the centuries, for the distinctiveness of Venetian architecture owes much to the imprint of foreign infl uences. The island city has long looked out to distant lands, rather than mainland Italy from where its fi rst citizens fl ed in the fi fth and sixth centuries from invaders, such as the Huns and Lombards. It has also sought its own distinctive response to specifi c Venetian conditions. Consider the world’s fi rst Jewish quarter, founded fi ve centuries ago around the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo in the sestiere (neighbourhood) of Cannaregio. Already home to a metal foundry, the local word for that (‘ghèto’) became a general term worldwide for segregated minority areas. From the architectural point of view, however, Venice’s ‘ghetto’ dealt with the need to cram local Jews and incomers from all over Europe into very limited space by building what may be the world’s fi rst ‘skyscrapers’. The quarter’s buildings were not only extra tall, but also added extra fl oors in a way that may not have been comfortable – but was certainly architecturally distinctive. From the ninth century onwards, Venice grew into a global maritime trade Global trade, cheap glass and a watery setting have all infl uenced the architecture of Venice. Norman Miller explains how these factors combined with Eastern infl uences to create a unique style