Natalie Fong
10/27/15
Making the Mediterranean
Week 3 Reflection
During
the 15th and 16th centuries, Venice was at its most
powerful and influential. Despite its relatively small size, Venice’s influence
was comparable to the much larger Ottoman Empire. Another geographically small
city that wielded considerable power was Genoa. The wealth and influence of
both Venice and Genoa largely stemmed from their trade relationship with the
Ottoman Empire. Venice was geographically positioned at the meeting points of
the East, Syria and Egypt, giving them prime access to all the trade activities
that occurred between the three empires. At their peaks, Venice and Genoa both
possessed enormous masses of wealth. Not only were the cities extremely wealth,
but so were the people who initially inhabited the two cities. The people of
extreme fortune in Venice eventually began to move outside of the direct city
into villas on the surrounding lands. Many chose to leave behind the canals of
Venice for countryside villas in an attempt to escape the growing poverty in
the city and to protect themselves against the threat of inflation.
Nevertheless, the city itself wasn’t
protected against economic turmoil. One of the main factors that contributed to
the gradual downfall of Venice was the fall of Constantinople. Venice’s trade
industry was not immediately affected by the demise of Constantinople due to
their established location and reputation for obtaining a wide variety of
products. However, the fall of Constantinople significantly disturbed the flow
of food products within Venice. As a city, Venice’s food supply and economy
heavily relied on the import and export of agriculture crops, especially wheat.
With the fall of Constantinople, Venice was forced to seek wheat supplies from
closer locations. However, nearby cities that were able to participate in the
exchange of wheat were limited since Egypt and the Black Sea region were
obligated to send their wheat supply to the Ottoman Empire as tribute.
Additionally, other European cities gradually began to develop into established
trade locations and Venice’s wealth and influence slowly faded.
Nowadays, Venice’s reputation and
attraction are mostly attributed to the city’s lavish past. In comparison to
the 15th and 16th century in which Venice embodied
significant international influence due to their wide reaching trade
connections, the city now mostly attracts visiting tourists. I find it very
interesting how one city can go from being one of the trade capitals of the
world to largely depending on tourism as their main economic income. Often
times, these cities become trapped in a cycle of tourism in which local
businesses adjust to meet the interests of the incoming visitors. However,
these alterations most often have a tendency to veer away from the original
essence of the city, reducing authenticity. This topic is of particular
interest for me because I have had personal experience with the
commercialization of a culture. In the Chinese culture, one of the customs that
we practice during the New Year is the exchange of red envelopes, which hold
money inside. These red envelopes represent the good luck that we hope to come
in the New Year and are usually given to family and loved ones. In the recent
years, red envelopes have been adopted by many outside of the Chinese culture
and are used year round. This takes away from the significance of the red
envelope being used only during Chinese New Year and on special occasions.
Therefore, I am under the impression that although Venetians welcome the influx
of visitors to their city, there is a possibility that they are also weary of
the effects tourism has had on their city’s culture and reputation.
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