Venice is a city in the north east of italy made up of 118 small islands separated by canals a unesco world heritage site the city is renowned as an architectural masterpiece and receives around 50 000 visitors per day when viewed from above there is the striking contrast between the red roofs of the buildings and the aqua tones of the surrounding lagoon and citys intricate canals among the landmarks visible on the jigsaw is the iconic saint marks basilica and the adjacent piazza dimensio