Venice

Although I was mostly thinking of Ukraine and Crimea in the past few days, the most intriguing European city that keeps flashing through my mind is Venice.

Well, I’m not entirely clear – I do not mean Venice as a city, but the Republic of Venice in the 12th century.

A small but lovely and romantic country. And immensely rich, too.

But the legend had a humble start. To begin with, the small coastal city was nothing more than a colony of the Byzantine Empire. From the 8th century, it was practically allowed to be independent – the city was ruled by a governor; it had its own court as well as currency. The irony is, Venice was never meant to be a republic – and it was never one. Its governor was not selected by any democratic means, but by discussion within a small circle of elite families.

Nonetheless, things were running in the right direction. By controlling the Mediterranean Sea, it held a critical position in the trading between Europe and Asia (Arab as well as China). Money came in like mad. For a good period of time the Venetian Lira was the reference currency used for trading between European countries.

The problem is, of course, there is only one thing that only goes up and never comes down – and this exception is not the luck or fate of any city.