Venice's Mediterranean Colonies

Originally published in 2001, this book examines the Venetian colonies of the Eastern Mediterranean and how their built environments express the close cultural ties with both Venice and Byzantium. Using the island of Crete and its capital city, Candia (modern Herakleion), as a case study, Maria Georgopoulou exposes the dynamic relationship that existed between colonizer and colony. She studies the military, administrative, and ecclesiastical monuments set up by the Venetian colonists which served as bold statements of control over the local Greek population and the Jewish communities who were ethnically, religiously, and linguistically distinct from them. Georgopoulou demonstrates how the Venetian colonists manipulated Crete's past history in order to support and legitimate colonial rule, particularly through the appropriation of older Byzantine traditions in civic and religious ceremonies. Review of the hardback: '... a thought-provoking read ... a fascinating insight into a particular moment in the creation of an imagine of Venetian rule, both in the colonies and within Venice itself.' The Art Book Review of the hardback: '... this is a fascinating and thought-provoking study which should stimulate further consideration of the Venetian empires on sea and land ... well illustrated ...' Journal of Urban History Review of the hardback: '... thoroughly and impressively researched ...' Architectural Research QuarterlyIntroduction: Venice's empire; Part I. Constructing an Empire: 1. The city as locus of colonial rule; 2. Signs of power; 3. Venice, the heir of Byzantium; Part II. Mapping the Colonial Territory: 4. Patron saints, relics, and martyria; 5. The blessings of the friars; 6. The Greeks and the city; 7. Segregation within the walls: the Judaica; Part III. Symbols of Colonial Control: 8. Ritualizing colonial practices; 9. Colonialism and the metropole; Conclusion.