Have you ever wondered why people would build a city over a bunch of islands?
118 islands to be exact?
Well, one good reason would be to escape an army of horseman led by the Scourge of God himself aka (also known as) Attila the Hun.
Perhaps you have heard of him in your history class. His ancient Hunnic empire stretched from central Asia all the way across to modern-day France with its headquarters in Pannonia, in today’s Hungary.
He had such a terrible reputation in most of Europe, especially in the Roman Empire, that when he invaded modern day Italy from the north in the year of 452 people from cities in his army’s path fled into the marshes to escape the attack and this has led to the founding of modern-day Venice, also called The City of Canals.
So, the next time you have the good fortune of visiting this beautiful city you might want to remember this little tidbit.
I did and told this story to my son when we were standing on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
His name is Attila.
Alex