Which countries have their own Venice?
In the world there are many cities with a developed system of canals, ducts and bridges, because of which they are often called the “Venice” of their countries. The most interesting of them will be discussed in this article …
Of course, we will not compare the architectural appearance and history of these cities with the original Venice. The purpose of this article is different – to talk about cities whose inhabitants as well as the Venetians live on the water …
Empuriabrava – Spanish Venice
On the Mediterranean coast of Spanish Catalonia, in the Costa Brava, near the French border, about 150 km from Barcelona, there is the town of Ampuriabrava, built up in Mediterranean-style houses, and known as the Spanish Venice. The total length of the dense network of canals here is almost 25 km, and the number of berths is about five thousand. Unlike Italian Venice, here you can drive to the house either by car or by boat.
About 250 km north of Lisbon is the Portuguese Venice – the town of Aveiro, which is one of the most striking attractions in Portugal. Aveiro is attracted by its canals, through which glide painted boats – Moliseira, as well as the Jesuit monastery of the 15th century.
The USA also has its own American Venice – the resort town of Fort Lauderdale, in Florida. Since the network of canals here is very developed, many locals have their own boats and yachts, on which they move around the city.
In the east of China, in the province of Jiangsu, on the shore of Lake Baixian, there is one of the most picturesque cities in the country – Zhouzhuang. Numerous canals, beautiful architecture and ancient bridges are the main local highlights that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
In the “Celestial Empire” several cities immediately claim the title of Chinese Venice. The second applicant is the ancient city of Suzhou, also located in Jiangsu province, but already close to Shanghai. The city is famous for its old areas with canals, beautiful buildings and stone bridges.
The small ancient and very colorful town of Wuzhen is the third Chinese Venice, located in the east of the country, in Zhejiang province. The unified architectural style of these houses, ancient stone bridges and numerous canals with many authentic wooden boats attract tourists from all over China.
The Netherlands also has its own Venice – the town of Giethoorn, located 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Here, tourists can swim along small channels formed at the site of peat extraction, through which wooden bridges are thrown, and along which colorful houses in a traditional style stand. There are no roads at all, there is only a bicycle path.
Ukraine has its own “Ukrainian” Venice – the city of Vilkovo, which got its name because of the peculiar “fork” formed by the sleeves in the Danube Delta, at the place of its confluence with the Black Sea. The old part of the town is located on the water, the streets in it are numerous not wide canals, called eriks, which travel mainly by boat. Of course, the city was not very lucky with architecture, it doesn’t even smell lush with palazzos and gondolas, but for foreigners this is probably even very colorful and unusual.
