Anyone sailing in the eastern Mediterranean today will come across traces in many places of a maritime power that shaped the architecture and culture of the coastlines for centuries. In our series ‘Traces of Venice in the Mediterranean’, we explore what remains to be discovered today of the Stato da Mar, stretching from the Adriatic Sea through the Greek islands to Cyprus.
Venice was once far more than just the city in the lagoon. Over the centuries, the historic Republic built up an extensive network of trading posts, ports, islands and fortresses. This maritime sphere of influence was known as Stato da Mar known as the ‘State at Sea’. It stretched from the Adriatic Sea, through the Ionian Islands and the Peloponnese, to Crete and Cyprus, and linked important trade and sea routes between Europe and the Levant – the countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
Venice’s stationary fleet
It was not merely a question of territory. The Venetian outposts served as supply stations for the fleet, transhipment points for goods, trading posts and military strongholds. The famous French historian Fernand Braudel described the islands stretching from the Adriatic to the Aegean as ‘la flotta immobile di Venezia’ (Venice’s immovable fleet). Some locations secured the entrance to a strategically important bay, others controlled a shipping route or served as a stopover on the way further east. It was their location by the water that made them so valuable to the Serenissima.
Traces of the Reich today: A tour of discovery
To this day, the legacy of this network can be seen in many places: in the imposing fortress walls right by the sea, in the arsenals and old harbour facilities, in the Venetian palaces, and in townscapes shaped by centuries of connection with Venice. UNESCO describes the Venetian fortifications on the eastern Adriatic as part of a coherent defence system designed to protect the sea routes and harbours as far as the Levant.
In our upcoming series ‘Traces of Venice in the Mediterranean’, over the coming weeks we will be following in the footsteps of this maritime and trading power in: Zadar, Kotor, Corfu, Methoni, Nafplio, Hvar, Chania, Naxos, Rethymno, Famagusta and Šibenik
Jill Grigoleit
Editor Travel
