Venice

Venice is a city of stone palaces and gold-domed churches, and the whole thing is standing on wood. Builders drove millions of tree trunks deep into the muddy lagoon floor, and underwater, with no air to rot them, the logs hardened almost to stone. They've held the city up for more than a thousand years.

Why build a city in a swamp? Because the swamp was the safest place around.

In the chaos after Rome fell, people fleeing Attila the Hun and other invaders hid out on the marshy islands of the lagoon, where no army could easily follow. The water was their wall.

Those refugees built a superpower. The Republic of Venice, run by an elected leader called the Doge, lasted around 1,100 years and grew fabulously rich by controlling the sea trade between Europe and the East.

Venetians played to win, and not always cleanly. In 828, two merchants stole the body of Saint Mark from Egypt, sneaking it past Muslim guards by hiding it under slabs of pork. He became the city's patron saint.

Centuries of plague taught Venice another lasting lesson. Ships had to wait offshore for 40 days before docking, "quaranta giorni" in the local language, which is where we get the word "quarantine."

The good times ended in 1797, when Napoleon marched in and shut the Republic down for good. Today Venice faces a slower threat: it's sinking, and high tides called acqua alta regularly flood the squares.

Glide down the Grand Canal, then climb the Rialto Bridge for the view.

Stand in St. Mark's Square and look up at the basilica's four bronze horses, looted from Constantinople in 1204. The ones outside are copies; the originals are kept safe inside.

Tour the Doge's Palace and cross the Bridge of Sighs. Hop a boat to Murano to watch glassblowers turn molten blobs into art.

Eat cicchetti, little Venetian snack plates you point at and pile up, and squid-ink pasta. Save room for tiramisu, born nearby in the Veneto.