They say it was the summer of 1527 when the world as we know it began.
Venice, at the time known as La Serenissima, was at the height of its power, being one of the world's three cultural epicenters, along with Rome and Constantinople.
The wealth that rich Venetian families acquired through international trade was immeasurable. For many years, from Venice to Alexandria, Gibraltar to Cyprus, skilled merchants controlled the commerce of the then known world. Along with them, shipping company owners, architects, and cardinals attained inconceivable profits. As their power and fortune grew, Venice grew with them and became the Jewel of the Adriatic Sea.
Word describing this city best at the time would probably be boundless. No limits existed for greedy and power-thirsty Venetian patricia
