Venèxia (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Lying in a swampy lagoon between the mouths of the Po and Piave rivers, no exact date is known for the founding of Venice, but some archeological evidence shows that the city's original citizens may have been Roman refugees fleeing the Germanic invasions and the Huns. As the centuries passed, the originally small settlement began to spread across the 118 islands therein, its inhabitants using the small rivulets and canals as their roads. In the late 700s AD, the ducal seat was moved to Venice and a basilica dedicated to St. Mark the Evangelist was built, heralding the birth of the “Queen of the Adriatic.” During the Middle Ages, the city flourished as a trading center between Europe and the rest of the world, its strategic location making its commercial and naval power unmatched in the Adriatic.