This is the house of Marco Polo -almost certainly the most celebrated resident of Venice. He traveled to China and spent many years there, trading and working for the Grand Kahn Although he is the one famous for doing so, he was far from the first. In fact, his father and uncle had gone there before him, and it was they who introduced him to Kublai Kahn. The reason Marco Polo is a name we all know, is because he took the time to set his experiences down in ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’. #marcopolo #empire #venice #venetzia #history #travel #italy #italia #reformation500tour

Although we may know Venice as a beautiful Italian city where travel is by gondolas, at one time Venice controlled an empire. As a merchant republic focused on trading and profit, Venice only ruled lands that furthered those ends.

This is the Forum, the beating heart of Ancient Rome. It was an open square used for public meetings and orations, with temples and government buildings along the side. Some of the most important events in Roman history took place here, including triumphs, murders and riots.

Lake Trasimene, where Hannibal hid his entire army in the hills, then surprised and slaughtered the Romans who were marching along the lake. Tradition says that Trasimene was red for three days from the blood of the slain Romans.

Along the shores of the Trebbia River, the Carthaginian invaders under Hannibal, including African cavalry and 40 elephants, defeated the Romans under Tiberius Sempronius Longus.

Today we visited the site of the Battle of Trebbia – the first major conflict Hannibal and his men had with the Roman army after their unprecedented march through the Alps in 218 B.C. About 40 elephants made it through the mountains, and they helped win a victory for the Carthaginians, mainly by demoralizing the enemy. The only trouble with elephants is that they are liable to panic and charge the wrong army!

Monumento Sibaud – a tribute in the Bobbio Valley to the Waldenses’ GLorious Return. The Waldenses were exiled from their homeland in modern Italy, and resettled in Geneva and other Protestant lands. But they determined to return to their homeland in modern Italy, so they secretly undertook the difficult journey through the Alps. When they arrived, their troubles were far from over, as their valleys were controlled by the hostile Catholic forces of the Duke of Savoy.

The Waldenses suffered much persecution and faced opposition from all sides. They had to be well prepared to defend themselves. These enormous muskets would have been used by their sentries. According to tradition, one was supposed to have belonged to their famous general Joshua Janavel.

This was one of the Bibles that the ‘Poor of Lyon’ (another name for the Waldensians) translated from Latin into French. It dates to 1580.

Today we are in Waldensian Country learning about the early Reformation. The Casa Valdese was and still is used as a meeting place for Waldensian leaders.