Venice (Italian: Venezia)

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 117 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals".Venice is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world for its celebrated art and architecture. The city has an average of 50,000 tourists a day (2007 estimate). In 2006, it was the world's 28th most internationally visited city, with 2.927 million international arrivals that year. It is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities.  In the 1980s, the Carnival of Venice was revived and the city has become a major centre of international conferences and festivals, such as the prestigious Venice Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, which attract visitors from all over the world for their theatrical, cultural, cinematic, artistic, and musical productions. Today, there are numerous attractions in Venice, such as St Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal, and the Piazza San Marco. The Lido di Venezia is also a popular international luxury destination, attracting thousands of actors, critics, celebrities, and mainly people in the cinematic industry. Venice has regional and national trains, including trains to Rome (3.5 hours) and Milan (2.5 hours). Treviso is 35 minutes away. Florence and Padua are two of the stops between Rome and Venice.Venice is served by the Marco Polo International Airport (Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo), named in honor of its famous citizen. The airport is on the mainland and was rebuilt away from the coast.