Venice
水上都市——意大利威尼斯

Venice, capital of the Veneto region, is a tourist and industrial city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon in the year of 1987.
威尼斯是意大利东北部著名的旅游与工业城市，也是威尼托地区的首府。威尼斯市区涵盖威尼斯以河道相隔、以桥梁相连的118个岛屿。威尼斯以其地理、建筑和艺术之美享誉世界，1987年威尼斯和附近的潟湖整体被列为世界文化遗产。

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city historically was the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the “Queen of the Adriatic”, “City of Water”, “City of Masks”, “City of Bridges”, “The Floating City”, and “City of Canals”. The New York Times described it as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man”. Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.
威尼斯的名字来源于公元前10世纪前一直居住在这一地区的人们——古代的威尼蒂人。这座城市历史上曾经是威尼斯共和国的中心。它有许多别名，如“亚得里亚海的女王”“水之都”“面具之城”“桥之城”“漂浮之都”“运河之城”等。《纽约时报》曾形容它“无疑是最美丽的人造都市”；《时代》网站上也称赞威尼斯是欧洲最浪漫的城市之一。

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period.
在中世纪和后来的文艺复兴时期，威尼斯共和国曾经是一个海上强国，十字军东征和勒潘多海战也曾在这里上演。它还是13世纪至17世纪末一座非常重要的商业(尤其是香料、粮食和丝绸贸易)与艺术重镇，所以历史上威尼斯大多是富裕之城。历史上一些重要的艺术运动也诞生于此，尤其是在文艺复兴时期。