Short answers, pulled from the story.
Venice is built on a group of 126 islands separated by expanses of open water and canals, with portions of the city linked by 472 bridges. The islands lie in the shallow Venetian Lagoon between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers.
The traditional founding of Venice is dated to the 25th of March 421, when the first church on the islet of Rialto was dedicated. The original settlers were refugees from nearby Roman cities including Patavium (Padua), Aquileia, and Altinum, fleeing Germanic and Hun invasions.
The Republic of Venice ended on the 12th of May 1797, when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the city during the War of the First Coalition. Napoleon then transferred Venice to Austria by signing the Treaty of Campo Formio on the 12th of October 1797.
The MOSE Project (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico) is a flood barrier system consisting of 78 hollow pontoons fixed to the sea bed across the three entrances to the Venetian Lagoon. It was inaugurated as a concept in May 2003 by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A Reuters report attributed its prolonged delays to corruption scandals, with the total cost projected by a National Trust of Italy spokesman to reach at least 7 billion euros, far above the original 800 million euro estimate. MOSE was first activated on the 3rd of October 2020.
By 1482, Venice was the printing capital of the world, and by 1500 it had 417 printers. The Aldine Press of Aldus Manutius, established in 1494, issued the first printed work of Aristotle in 1497, established modern punctuation and italic type, and invented the portable paperback book. Around fifteen percent of all printing in the fifteenth century came from Venice.
Venice introduced a 5 euro access fee for day-trippers visiting the historic centre, which came into force on the 25th of April 2024 on peak visitor days. For the 2025 season the fee applied to 54 days, with a tiered surcharge raising it to 10 euros for visitors who failed to register at least four days in advance. For 2026 the system was expanded to 60 days with a mandatory digital reservation system.