Venice port-city since forever: a bridge to new markets and new cultures

The relationship with the sea has been the lifeblood of Venice and its inland since the very first city settlements, bringing much prosperity from the times of the Republic of La Serenissima up to the present day. 

Over the centuries, the Venetian maritime-port culture amazed the world with its innovative technologies, proposing successful engineering solutions like the invention of the assembly line, which was experimented in the infernal “Arzanà dei Viniziani” that had so filled Dante Alighieri’s Middle Ages with ominous wonder. 

The same spirit that animated the Venetian Arsenal in ancient times is still alive today in Porto Marghera, a forge of productivity and services fueled by the many entrepreneurial realities that—looking out over the sea—continue to hold a fundamental stake in port facilities. 

An invisible thread ties together the ancient and modern of Venice’s maritime-port culture. All one needs to do it think of the gigantic columns transported by sea from Constantinople and erected on the Palace Pier of Saint Mark’s in the 13th century: they are not only symbols of the artistic splendor of the city, but they are also monuments of the daring ingenuity capable of handling majestic, extraordinary loads. 

Passed down through the centuries, this skill still distinguishes the Venetian port facilities, still at the Italian forefront in handling exceptional cargo and more. 

Indeed, just as in ancient times, manufacturing still exists in symbiosis with the Veneto region’s ports: over 1,200 companies operate across an area of approximately 3,000 hectares, serving the supply and export chains of industries based in Northern Italy and Central Europe. And all this thanks to a multipurpose port system, capable of handling all types of cargo – from containers to dry or liquid bulk, from steel products to oversize and overweight cargoes – not to mention passengers: tailor-made facilities and services are available for all tourists arriving by sea attracted by the charm of the two historic cities and the uniqueness of the lagoon habitat.