The history of Venice spans more than a millennium and encapsulates the features of various histories, such as Byzantine history, the history of Italy, and the history of the Mediterranean and of Europe. In this way Venice undoubtedly expressed its own civilisation. Vittore Branca was a firm believer in the notion of the “civilisation of Venice”, often the subject of study and reflection in the early decades of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Indeed, many specific books and an initial major synthesis were devoted to the civilisation of Venice. How important is the subject today? Should the study of Venetian civilisation be relaunched?

This seminar brings together leading experts to reflect on the issue by assessing the state of the art of Venice historiography and charting the distinctive features of a state and a unique political, ideological, economic and cultural system in the Mediterranean and Europe.The seminar provides the opportunity to commemorate Gaetano Cozzi, long-serving director of the Institute for the History of the Venetian State and Society, this year being the centenary of his birth.