Venice's resources

[Elrodian]

My Question is what little resources did Venice have form its many outpost.

[Xenos]

Venice was built in a strategic location (from a maritime point of view) and was constructed in a lagoon which protected it from land invasion, allowing on building up it's naval strength. In fact, great maritime powers such as Venice often emerged due to a lack of natural resources, forcing such civilisations to take to the seas in search of trade and prosperity.

[Faeelin]

Originally Posted by Elrodian

My Question is what little resources did Venice have form its many outpost.

The main benefit of most of its overseas territories was their use as naval bases; this was the main role of Chios, for instance. Crete and Cyprus, however, were far more important. Cyprus was a major role of sugar and cotton for 16th century Europe, for instance.

[Vitruvius]

As has been mentioned the main purpose of Venice's outposts were as ports on important trade routes. When the Byzantine Empire was divided after the Fourth Crusade Venice took the strategic points not large swaths of territory. Crete and Cyprus have already been mentioned. The cities in Dalmatia like Zara and Spalato offered safe harbors for vessels plying the Adriatic (as there were few quality ports on the Italian side).

Some also had ancillary benefits such as lumber for the Arsenale. Istria for example provided fine white marble that still graces many of the churches of Venice. But that was hardly the point of possessing them. It was not until the end of the quatrocento when the Ottomans began to choke of the trade in the east that Venice turned towards building a true territorial empire on the Terra Firma. The conquest of the Veneto saw the rise of agricultural estates owned by Venetian Patricians and Venetian governors as far inland as Bergamo and Brescia.