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Venice's Market
Venice is widely known for it's historic trade success, rich markets, and the many factors that helped Venice become the rich tourist spot it is today. For starters, the geographic location benefitted the city in trade between Western Europe and the Middle East, while also keeping them safe from invading barbarians from the north during the Middle Ages. The vast circuitry of the islands waterways and channels aided the city in becoming a prominent figure in maritime trading. Venice started out trading salt, the abundant resource on their island, and they built a strong trading fleet known to be the most powerful navy in the Adriatic region during the Middle Ages.

History
During the Norman invasion in the 11th century, Venice's Doge Domenico Selvo successfully pushed back Guiscard's fleet with Venice's navy, ensuring their freedom throughout the Mediterranean. Due to this course of action by Selvo, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I granted Venetians, in May 1092, unrestricted trade in Byzantium and commercial privileges. These priveleges reduced, and sometimes removed, duties and taxes from Venetians who visited Byzantium in trade. While these grants were meant as a reward for drawing the Norman's back, Peter Frankopan states the treaty was intended to bring capital back into the deteriorating economy of Byzantium. In establishing themselves within the trading empire, Venice became rich in several goods, and became the essential contributor of spices in the 13th century, which they transported throughout the known world, even establishing a hold on the pepper trade. However, Venice's monopoly on pepper diminished when the rest of the world refused to pay their prices. Venice took part in learning and honing skills in the production of goods from several lands, including cane sugar processing, creating silk textiles, glassblowing, jewellry making, and book publishing. Venice's greatest attraction was not only their rich markets, but the ease in transporting and exchanging goods. Another benefit to Venice's rich market system is from the early years when Italian city-states were under despotic rule, Venice chose to rely on merchant oligarchy. This caused them to lack the feudal nobility that other Italian city-states suffered, however it was just as flawed. The notion of anybody being able to rise up to power using sufficient trading skills was a favored alternative for Venetians. This led to several written contracts and laws such as the Pacta, Colleganza, and the Commenda. The Colleganza allowed poorer merchants to put stock in international trade by splitting it two ways, limiting the amount of money merchants lost in case anything happened to the merchandise. The Commenda contracts were used for financing maritime commercial ventures, designed for lending out capital and profiting off it, which shared many features with the Muslim Muqarada; the Roman Nauticum Fenus; and the Byzantine Chreokoinonia.

Venice's market deteriorated after a wave of rich merchants established the Serrata in 1297. The Serrata was a set of laws that established hereditary right to Venice's Great Council in only a few select families, and closed off the opportunity for anybody else to rise to power. It also affected migrant labor as it prevented skilled artisans from leaving and skilled immigrants from entering Venice. This act can be seen as ultimately destroying Venice's place as a maritime and economic power, and transforming the city into a museum.

Today
Today, Venice's markets, most notably Rialto, are frequented by locals and tourists who seek to indulge in the market's cultural diversity and traditional market system, despite the current economic struggles within Venice. In 2011, Rialto's fish market was threatened by plans to expand the docks in order to make room for cruise ships, despite Rialto being the most ancient place of Venice, however the plan never went through. Riviera del Brenta in Venice contains 520 of the world's top footwear companies, with 95% of their production focused on women's luxury footwear. This region's footwear market originates from the 13th century, and the companies continue to use the old seal of the Venetian Confraternita dei Calegheri (Cobbler's Confraternity).

Tourists and locals can enjoy the variety of markets in Venice today, including the Rialto fish and produce market, the Rio Tera San Leonardo produce market, the Via Giribaldi clothing and household goods market, and many more.