Describing historical figures

Founded in the 5th century AD and spread over 118 small islands, Venice became a major maritime power in the 10th century. The whole city is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece in which even the smallest building contains works by some of the world's greatest artists such as Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and others.

In this lagoon covering 70,176 ha, nature and history have been closely linked since the 5th century when Venetian populations, to escape barbarian raids, found refuge on the sandy islands of Torcello, Jesolo and Malamocco. These temporary settlements gradually became permanent and the initial refuge of the land-dwelling peasants and fishermen became a maritime power.

Over the centuries, during the entire period of the expansion of Venice, when it was obliged to defend its trading markets against the commercial undertakings of the Arabs, the Genoese and the Ottoman Turks, Venice never ceased to consolidate its position in the lagoon.

Venice and its lagoon landscape is the result of a dynamic process which illustrates the interaction between people and the ecosystem of their natural environment over time. Human interventions show high technical and creative skills in the realization of the hydraulic and architectural works in the lagoon area.

Timbuktu was originally a meeting place for Tuareg nomads, or wandering peoples, in the Sahara. About ad 1000 it was no more than a well next to a sand dune. Timbuktu was founded as a seasonal camp by the Tuareg about 1100, when nomad tents were replaced by straw huts. These eventually gave way to more permanent houses. There are several different stories about how the city got its name. According to one tradition, it was named for an old woman left to oversee the camp while the Tuareg roamed the Sahara.

Timbuktu’s location at the meeting point of desert and water made it an ideal trading center. In the late 13th or early 14th century it became part of the Mali empire. After an extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, the Mali emperor Mansa Musa built the Great Mosque (Djinguereber) and a royal residence in Timbuktu. Soon the other two major mosques were built, and Sankore University was established around the Sankore mosque.

Meanwhile, Mansa Musa’s trip had introduced people in North Africa and the Middle East to the riches of the Mali empire. Caravans began bringing salt and spices from the north to exchange with traders from West Africa who traveled up the Niger River bringing gold and slaves. Other people bought and sold books. Timbuktu became a great center of trade and of learning. By 1450 its population had reached about 100,000, and it was home to some 25,000 Islamic scholars.

In 1468 Timbuktu was conquered by the Songhai empire. During the period from 1493 to 1591 Timbuktu was at the height of its commercial and cultural development. In 1591 the sultan of Morocco captured the city, which then began to decline. The Moroccans, who did not approve of the scholars, had them arrested and sent into exile. The city was repeatedly attacked by neighboring peoples. By the end of the 18th century Timbuktu was reduced to desolation and poverty, never to regain its former status.