The Republic of Venice
I live in Italy, and whenever I go towards Venice, I can’t help but stop to admire the unique architecture of the old buildings from this amazing and historic Republic. Even outside its own region, there are cities like Bergamo that still feature the Lion of San Marco in various places. In fact, Bergamo alone has 12 lions, and in many other cities across the Mediterranean, you can spot the lion in some form, you simply cannot miss it. Many of these cities, once controlled by the Republic of Venice, also feature clock towers, reflecting Venetian influence on civic life and architecture.
Their palaces and history are completely unique. You can recognize them just by the architecture, even without an explicit symbol like the Lion of San Marco. Venice itself was like a piece of jewelry in its time, and today modern civilization has borrowed much from it. Venice became powerful by trading rare, high-value goods like spices and silk, controlling global trade. They had contracts with the Ottomans, Byzantines, and Chinese, and they were the primary channel for Asian trade into Europe.
Venice produced figures like Vivaldi and Marco Polo, among many others. I refuse to believe that anyone doesn’t know what Venice is, or hasn’t seen it at least once in their lifetime. It’s one of the most touristic places in the world, and it would be unwise to forgive it and reduce it to just one of the game’s variants, using only its units for other civilizations and nothing unique for itself, since today we still remember its history. I truly think it deserves a place in Age of Empires 4.
Here’s a reminder of a great man Toto Cutungo, who is no longer with us, and who used to be an icon for Europe and many other countries.
