Venezia or Venice in english is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto. Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area population 1,600,000. The city historically was an independent nation. Venice has been known as the “La Dominante”, “Serenissima”, “Queen of the Adriatic”, “City of Water”, “City of Bridges”, and “The City of Light”. Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man”.