Napoleon the first dissolved the old republic of Venice because the city's political and military power had dissipated. Thereafter, Venice rested, peacefully, on the laurels of its glorious past. Now, at the dawn of a new millennium, Venice remains a vast living museum. Since the Romantic period, poets, writers, and musicians, have visited this city of love, palaces, churches, and canals in search of inspiration. This richly-illustrated book guides the reader on a seductively beautiful path through one of the most beautiful cities of the western hemisphere, a city that appears to have emerged wondrously from the depths of the sea.