Venice - The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. Venice is also famous for its musical, particularly operatic, history, and its most famous son in this field is Antonio Vivaldi. Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 (census estimate January 1, 2004). 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'.