>Venice Was Not Built on Solid Ground...
>It was built on millions of wooden piles driven deep into the seabed.
Since the year 421 AD, this floating city has defied both time and engineering logic.
While most cities rise upon rock or concrete, Venice stands upon a submerged forest of timber.
Specifically, alder wood — a type that doesn’t rot underwater.
Buried in clay and soaked in saltwater, it doesn’t decay; it petrifies, turning harder and stronger over the centuries — almost as tough as stone.
>A timeless marvel that continues to support an entire city.
>The Campanile of St. Mark’s alone rests on 100,000 wooden piles —
each one hand-driven up to three meters deep into the lagoon floor.
>But why build a city on water?
>In the early 5th century, Italy was under siege by barbarian tribes.
>Fleeing from invasion, people sought refuge in the muddy marshes of the Venetian lagoon.
>The water became their wall — a natural fortress no army could easily cross.
>And so, amid the mud and mist, Venice was born.
>Not as a city that conquered nature —
>but as one that learned to live in harmony with it.
>Venice does not float by chance.
>It floats by ingenious design, necessity, and the enduring will of a story that refuses to sink.