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The Tarot cards were devised originally in Northern Italy and their makers were maybe inspired by oriental cards brought from the East. Prhaps by merchants returning to the great trading port of Venice.
The original seventy-eight card Tarot pack is usually referred to in Italy, in the region Venetian or Piedmontese, differentiates it from later offshoots such as the ninety-seven card Florentine minchiate pack and the sixty-two card Bolognese pack.
It is even possible that the cards were named after their place of origin. The North Italian plain is watered by the river Po, an important tributary of which is the river Taro.
Most of the historical evidence we have regarding the first appearance of playing cards in Europe is of a negative kind. Reference to town records can tell us when they became widespread enough to be worthy of note or condemnation, but not how long it took for them to become popular or where they came from.
