IT212 - Translation
Translation/comprehension homework
Term 1, Week 8: comparatives/superlatives
Venice: The Most Cosmopolitan City in Italy?
SAMPLE BACK TRANSLATION
One of the most spectacular cities in Italy / One of the most spectacular Italian cities is Venice.
Known in many parts of the world on account of its peculiarities as a city built on the sea, in the
Renaissance Venice was however a very important city for many other reasons. It owned a
considerable maritime empire that none of the Italian cities could any longer equal. (Genoa, for
instance, no longer held the power it once had). Furthermore, a very large number of goods and
people coming from the Near East were arriving in Venice – here there was probably the most
considerable mix of Europeans, Jews, Greeks and Muslims in all of Europe. Amongst the goods these
foreigners (several of whom were either merchants or scholars) brought to Italy were manuscripts of
ancient works, some of which were very rare and written in little known languages. There is also one
very relevant observation (to be made) with regard to the political constitution of the city on the
lagoon: as opposed to many other cities, Venice was a republic like Florence, and indeed one of the
richest cities in Italy. And it was much more important than other nearby cities like Padua, even
though its university has its campus just there. Amongst the most well-known and beautiful cities in
the world, Venice still continues to exert its charm on the millions of tourists who visit it every year.
Unfortunately, however, the number of official residents is dwindling, and it has recently even lost its
only cinema. Can it really still be one of the most distinguished cities in Italy?