{"id":17129,"date":"2016-09-04T08:07:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T13:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=17129"},"modified":"2022-06-08T06:31:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T11:31:24","slug":"venice-whatever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/venice-whatever\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice of Whatever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I kept running into places that compared themselves to Venice as I uncovered canal superlatives<\/a>. Literally dozens of places described themselves that way. It made things easy for Twelve Mile Circle too. I could select whatever examples I wanted today because I couldn’t possibly cover them all. That seemed like an excellent opportunity to create some push-pins in lower density areas of the 12MC Complete Index<\/a> Map. Right, India?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gondolas,<\/a>
The real Venice. In Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even though all these claimants existed, naturally only one true Venice prevailed amongst the panoply of poseurs, the deservedly famous one in Italy (map<\/a>). It seemed like an odd location for a city, scattered along a string of islands in a marshy lagoon at the mouth of a couple of rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The founders selected this unlikely site intentionally. The marsh offered refuge<\/a> to Christians fleeing southward away from Germanic tribes as the Roman Empire crumbled. Then their city grew slowly over the centuries. Eventually it became an important economic hub and a naval power. However, Venice only had so much land and an overabundance of water, leading to the beautiful canals that visitors treasure today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kashmiri Venice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"India<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I decided to completely side-step the ongoing geopolitical situation of the Kashmir conflict. The focus remained on a city with an alleged resemblance to Venice contained within its larger borders. Srinagar (map<\/a>) came under Indian control and that seemed alright for my purposes. The city claimed to be a “Kashmiri Venice” or even more boldly the “Venice of the East.” At least a dozen other places also proclaimed themselves to be the true Venice of the East. I didn’t know how to rank them all, although I felt that Srinagar at least qualified as the Kashmiri Venice. That felt safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srinagar fell within the Jammu and Kashmir state at the very northern tip of India. Jammu and Kashmir itself included an interesting geo-oddity. It had both a summer and a winter capital. Srinagar serves as the capital during the warmer months and then it jumps to Jammu for the winter. I couldn’t figure out why or how that worked. It seemed strange to move the capital nearly 300 kilometres (180 miles) twice a year. And I’ve complained about moving the hands of a clock twice a year. That little tangent had nothing to do with canals in Srinagar so I suppose I need to get back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jhelum River ran through Srinagar on its way to the Indus River. A series of canals, both current and historical, prevented flooding and regulated water levels. They also connected two large bodies of water, Dal Lake and Anchar Lake, as well as several smaller ones. The city became known for its majestic waterside Mughal architecture, its wonderful parks and its iconic houseboats. All of those conditions supported its claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Venice of the Netherlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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