OvC – Venice

In part four, Julian Davison travels to the commercial superpower of the 16th century, the resplendent kingdom on water, Venice. Here, Julian, participates in the time honoured pageant, La Sensa, a symbolic marriage between Venice and the Sea before revealing how this tiny island Republic grew into one of the richest and most formidable sea powers in the world.

We discover how Venice managed a complex love/hate relationship with the Ottoman Empire that exploded into an all out war for control of the Mediterranean involving the Pope and much of Christian Europe. Julian samples life as a galley slave before moving on to the former Venetian stronghold, Cyprus.

Part Turkish, part Greek, Cyprus continues to be one of the most contested islands in the Mediterranean and the roots of its struggle can be traced to the battles waged here in the 16th century. Julian begins his exploration of Cyprus in the Turkish occupied north where he follows the trail of the Ottoman Army’s relentless campaign for control of the island in 1571.  But the bloodiest and most decisive battle for Cyprus was yet to come.