The bridges, the canals, the gongolas, the elegant facades reflecting in the water… No wonder why everybody wants to copy Venice, Italy. Although the charm of the original Venice is hard to replicate, some attempts to copy the beauty of the Italian town are actually having terrific success. Here are four endeavours to copy it.
1. The Venetian Tower, Las Vegas, USA
This is probably the most popular fake Venice. Together with The Palazzo Tower, The Venetian Tower is part of the Venetian Resort, an enormous complex with more than 7,000 rooms. At The Venetian, guests can admire the lobby with its frescoed ceiling, shop in Saint Mark’s square, and take a picture with the most remarkable sights of Venice, such as Saint Mark’s clock tower, the Rialto Bridge, and the Doge’s Palace. You can even ride a gondola on artificial canals while listening to your gondolier singing a serenade.
2. The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Macao, China
The Venetian Macao Resort is a huge luxury hotel and casino located on the Cotai Strip in Macau. With 3,000 rooms spread over 40 floors and a total gaming space of 550,000 sq f, The Venetian Macao is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and home to the second largest casino in the world. Similarly to its sister property in Las Vegas, the Venetian Macao is themed on the romantic streets and canals of Venice and covered with a painted sky ceiling. The casino features marble tiles and frescos reminiscent of Venice’s greatest buildings. Of course, the gondola rides cannot be missing.
3. Little Venice, Dalian, China
Also known as “East Montage,” the Little Venice of Dalian is a replica of the classical Italian namesake city. In this case, the replica is not located inside a building, but in open air. China launched the project back in 2011, and awarded a group of French architects a budget of USD $725 million to carry out the plan. The result is a fake city with more than 4 km of canals and over 200 European-style buildings cloning the architecture and the paintings of Venice. Needless to mention, gondolas and gondoliers dressed up in traditional Venetian costumes are always in sight, and there are even a few cafès serving western food.
4. The Floating Venice, Dubai, UAE
Although still in the construction phase, the Floating Venice is part of a USD $5 billion mega-resort project named “The Heart Of Europe” and located 4 km off the coast of Dubai. The project was announced in 2014 by Austrian developer Kleindienst Group and has been under construction ever since. The Heart of Europe will feature the world’s first floating underwater spa and 15 unique hotels spread across six artificial islands. Each hotel will showcase European culture, architecture and lifestyle. The Floating Venice will be one of these hotels, aiming to pay tribute to the Mediterranean canal city and to bring an authentic Venetian experience to the Middle East. Traditional Venetian festivals and events – such as the Carnival and the Biennale di Venezia – will be celebrated throughout the year to further immerse guests into the spirit of the Italian city.
