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Legendary Cathay and the kingdom of the mighty Kublai Khan took pride of place in explorer Marco Polo’s best-selling account of his 20-year odyssey to the Far East, Il milione . Son of a Venetian merchant, Marco Polo (1254–1324) is responsible for the introduction of pasta and window blinds to the western world.

Vivaldi (1678–1741) was both an accomplished musician and an influential composer. Of his 500 concertos, The Four Seasons is the best known, though 10 were transcribed by J.S. Bach. Vivaldi spent extended periods teaching music at the Pietà home for girls (see Vivaldi Concerts).

This marvellous romantic figure (1725–98) was variously a diplomat, scholar, trainee priest, adventurer, gambler, notary’s clerk, violinist, womanizer, exile, millionaire, writer and spy. Casanova was imprisoned in the Doge’s Palace (see Doge’s Palace) on charges of being a magician, from where he effected an infamously daring escape.

This late Renaissance madrigalist (1567–1643) is attributed with the introduction of the solo voice to theatre. His opera Proserpina Rapita was the first to be performed in Venice. After long periods at the court of the Gonzagas, he accepted an appointment at the Basilica San Marco and worked for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (see Scuola Grande di San Rocco).

Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto, or John Cabot (1450–99), and his sons were authorized by Henry VII of England to search for new lands with the aim of furthering trade. Believing himself on the northeast coast of Asia, he discovered Newfoundland in Canada and claimed it for England, opening up cod fishing.

It was inconceivable for the church in 1678 that a woman should teach religion, so the University of Padua awarded this child prodigy and the first woman graduate (1646–84) a degree in philosophy, instead of one in theology to which she aspired.

Organizer of the 1848 rebellion against Austrian rule, the Venetian patriot (1804–57) is commemorated by a statue in Campo Manin. An independent “republic” was declared and survived 17 months of bombardments and even cholera, concluding with Manin’s exile to Paris.

When the pope excommunicated Venice for insubordination, involving restrictions on church construction and the refusal to hand over two priests on criminal charges, Sarpi (1552–1623) resolved the rupture. A patriot and theologian, he was an advocate of division between State and Church.

This Venetian noblewoman (1454–1510) married the king of Cyprus then allegedly poisoned him, thus securing the strategic island for Venice. Her return to the city was an occasion of great pomp, recalled to this day in a waterborne procession during the Regata Storica (see Regata Storica). Cornaro’s reward was the hilltown of Asolo.

This musician (1924–90) made milestone progress in the field of electronic music, and an archive named after him was set up in Venice in 1993. A committed Communist, his works were often provocative.