Post date: Sep 23, 2015 1:38:21 PM
This week, I took a closer look into the construction of the city of Venice, and its architectural origins. Many people know Venice to be "the Floating City", but I wanted to address the question of "How?" A city with a history as old and rich as Venice which has been perched above the waters of the Adriatic for centuries is an incredible feat, and learning how it was accomplished shed some light on why Venetians have good reason to be proud of their city. Information on the process was taken from Here.
The first people who lived upon the island inhabited mostly temporary abodes
When deciding to build the city, they wanted it to be perched above the water
A great amount of planning, especially regarding materials, was put into this endeavor
Over 1 million wooden stakes were driven into the bedrock to build upon
Wooden platforms known as zatterone were constructed on top of the stakes
Stone foundations of a special type of rock, Kirmenjak, were built to protect the delicate brick above from the water seeping up (rising damp)
Months of planning, and years of actually building went into designing the great city
Wood and Stone all had to be brought to the site of construction by boat, lots of manpower
From the sounds of it, a lot of sweat, blood, and tears went into the construction of the Queen of the Adriatic. It certainly gives the Venetians something to take pride in, that their city built so many years ago is still a prominent attraction and an architectural work of art.