Page 26 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

24  INTRODUCING VENICE AND THE VENE T O

The Building of Venice

Venice is built on a patchwork of more than 100 low-
lying islands in the middle of a swampy lagoon. To
overcome these extremely challenging conditions,
early Venetian builders evolved construction techni-
ques unique to the city, building with impermeable
stone supported by larchwood rafts and timber piles.
This method proved effective and most Venetian Campo Santa Maria Mater
Domini is a typical medieval
buildings are remarkably robust, many having stood square, with its central wellhead
for at least 400 years. By 1500 the city had taken on and its businesslike landward
much of its present shape and only since the 20th façades – decoration on
century has further building begun to alter the outline. buildings was usually reserved
for the canal façades.
Campaniles often lean
because of compaction of
the underlying subsoil.

Pinewood piles were driven
7.5 m (25 ft) into the ground
before building work could
begin. They rest on the solid
caranto (compressed clay)
layer at the bottom of
the lagoon.
Istrian stone, a type of
marble, was used to create
damp-proof foundations.
Closely packed piles do not rot in
the waterlogged subsoil because
there is no free oxygen, vital for
microbes that cause decay. Bricks Water grilles
The well was the source of the
Sand acting fresh water supply. Rainwater
as a filter was channelled through
pavement grilles into a clay-
lined cistern filled with sand to
act as a filter.

Ornate wellheads, such as this
one in the Doge’s Palace courtyard
photographed in the late 19th century,
indicate the importance of a reliable
water supply for the survival of the
community. Strict laws protected the
purity of the source, prohibiting “beasts,
unwashed pots and unclean hands”.

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