The Crazy Engineering of Venice

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Have you ever wondered how Venice, a city built on water, became one of the most powerful and wealthy cities in history?

In this video, we uncover the extraordinary story of Venice, from its humble beginnings as a refuge for Roman citizens fleeing the Huns, to its rise as a medieval engineering marvel. Discover how the Venetians transformed a muddy lagoon into a thriving metropolis with no roads, no land, and no fresh water. We'll explore the ingenious techniques they used to build stable foundations, construct iconic canals and bridges, and develop a unique system for fresh water and waste management.

Join me as we model Venice's complex infrastructure and reveal the secrets behind its lasting success. Be sure to stick around until the end of this video to learn more about our next giveaway.

Enter the giveaway at the link below:
https://primalnebula.com/giveaway/

Short on time? Feel free to skip ahead in this video using the chapter links below.

00:00 The History of Venice
01:04 Building Stable Foundations
02:12 Establishing the Islands of Venice
04:52 Constructing Venetian Bridges
06:15 Venice's Water Supply Solution
07:45 Waste Management Innovation in Venice

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References:
https://primalnebula.com/how-was-venice-built

Written and edited by Ewan Cunningham (https://www.instagram.com/ewan_cee/)
3D Modeler: Orkun Zengin

Music used in this video:
As History Unfolds - Christoffer Moe
To Loom Is To Love - The Mini Vandals
San Pedro - Sugoi
Inspiring Cinematic Asia - Lexin Music
Eternal Garden - Dan Henig
Sprightly Pursuit - Cooper Cannell
Melting Glass - Eden Avery
Stuck In The Air - The Tower of Light

#venice #venicecanal #engineeringmarvels

The year is 452

The Roman Empire
is on the brink of collapse

and the Huns have just launched
their attack on Northern Italy.

Several cities are completely destroyed

forcing the locals to go on the run.

They head for a lagoon just off the coast

and take refuge on several small islands,

a decision that would
no doubt save their lives.

Against all odds, this small civilization
eventually went on to build

one of the most impressive
feats of engineering

the world has ever seen.

Venice.

Despite having no roads,
no land and no fresh water,

the Venetians managed
to turn a muddy swamp

into the most powerful
and wealthiest city of its time.

This unique layout of canals and bridges

woven through hundreds of islands

made Venice incredibly accessible

and it became
the epicenter of all business.

We modeled the entire thing

to show you what's going on
beneath the surface

and how its clever design
and medieval engineering

allowed it to take over the world.

When the first refugees arrived

to start their new lives on the islands

they had the worst possible surface
to build on.

The small, marshy Islands were made
of an incredibly soft clay

which would barely hold
the weight of a human

let alone an entire city.

To create stable foundations for buildings

the Venetians collected large timber piles
from the forests of Croatia

and started hammering them
into the ground.

They drove them them about 5m deep

until they reached
a much harder layer of clay.

Not only did this stabilize the piles,

but by packing them really close together

it compressed the surrounding clay

pushing out the water
and making it much stronger.

Once the piles were firmly in the ground

the tops were cut off
and wooden planks were laid on top

to spread the load.

Special blocks of Istrian stone

were then placed to raise
the foundations above the water.

This design was a stroke of genius

as the wooden piles
were sealed away from the air

making it impossible for them to rot.

To this day almost all
of the original piles

are in great condition

and are still holding up the city.

Once the foundation
had been properly laid down

the buildings themselves were built.

Venetians started off
using wood for their houses

but after numerous fires,

they switched to brick.

To keep the buildings
as lightweight as possible

they had to be
no more than 3 stories high.

Lime mortar had to be used
instead of cement

because it was flexible

and would allow
the entire building to flex

as the ground beneath slowly moved.

The inner walls were built
in a criss-cross pattern

that would also flex like a trellis.

The facade walls which had large windows
and elegant stone designs

made them much heavier

and so, in order
to stop them from falling over

they were pinned into the floor
using iron rods

keeping the entire building together.

This method of building
worked well for the Venetians

and soon several islands around the lagoon
were established in this way.

Instead of expanding
outwards like most cities,

these islands expanded into each other.

At first, boats were the only way
to cross between the islands

but eventually the islands
grew closer together

and many could be crossed

by simply wading
through the shallow water on a horse.

The next step in Venice's evolution

would of course be connecting the islands.

Surprisingly there were no bridges

for the first 500 years
of Venice's existence.

But as the population increased

and business started to ramp up

there needed to be
an easier way to reach Rialto,

the financial center of Venice.

And so, the Doge of Venice
set up a prize

for the engineer that could design
the best bridge.

He announced this by putting up
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In order to turn Venice
from a collection of islands

into a bustling city,
bridges had to be built.

The first attempt
was a simple pontoon bridge

that joined the two largest sections
of Venice together

and crucially provided
quick access to the Rialto area.

The bridge was later upgraded
to a wooden bridge

which eventually burned down
and collapsed

before it was finally replaced
by a much stronger stone bridge.

To build it, over 12,000 timber piles
were driven into the banks of the canal

and 10,000 tons of stone
were built on top

to form the bridge.

To this day the bridge still stands

and it serves as the main artery
in the center of Venice.

After this, stone bridges
started to pop up everywhere

turning Venice into a compact city

made up entirely of canals
instead of roads.

This gave Venice a unique advantage

since the canals allowed goods
and traffic

to flow quickly
through every part of the city.

The messy overlap of pedestrians
and horse-drawn traffic

didn't exist in Venice

since the walkways and canals
were completely separated.

Yet people could transition
between the two effortlessly,

without slowing down.

By now the city had become

the most powerful
and richest city in Europe.

Everything being bought and sold
went through Venice

and the Venetians were making
enormous amounts of money.

But as business increased,
so did the population

and the demand for fresh water
was out of control.

Despite being surrounded by water,
Venice couldn't use any of it

since it was extremely
salty and undrinkable.

Without natural springs or rivers
to collect fresh water

Venice relied upon boats
to deliver water from the mainland

but with 170,000 people,

the demand became too much

and the Venetian engineers
had to get creative.

From the beginning, Venetian islands
were built around squares

which were initially just empty fields
for animals to graze upon.

The idea was to use these squares
to collect rainwater.

They started by digging out
large areas under the entire square

and lining the walls
with a thick layer of clay

to make it waterproof.

The space was then filled in
with sand and stones

and the surface was redone with tiles

that would lead the water
towards each corner of the square.

From here, rainwater
would flow into the basin

and gradually filter
through the sand and stones

until it reached the main well
at the center of the square.

To maximize the surface area
for water collection,

the roofs of the nearby buildings
were fitted with gutters

that would direct the water
onto the square and into the drains.

Venice then became an enormous funnel

which filled more than 600 wells
around the city.

The Venetians had once again
engineered a masterpiece

to save its city.

But there was still one huge problem.

Waste.

Until this point, people threw
all of their waste out of the window,

some of it landing in the canal.

But for those who didn't live
within throwing distance of a canal,

urine, feces and rotten food
all ended up in the streets.

And so, in the 16th century,

the Venetians started building
a network of underground tunnels

that would collect the waste
from every building

and flush it into the canal.

When the tide of the lagoon was down

solid waste would collect at the bottom

and the liquids would naturally
flow into the canals.

Then, when the tide rose,
it would flood the tunnels

and pull the solid waste into the canal.

The motion of the tide
coming in and out twice a day

would exchange the dirty water
for fresh water from the sea

flushing Venice from all of its waste.

The extremely salty water
worked as a strong disinfectant

and thanks to this system,
the streets became clean.

Amazingly, almost all of the incredible
engineering that made Venice

is still around today.

The bridges, the canals, the buildings
are all ancient relics

sitting on a forest

that has held up the entire city
for over a thousand years.

And now, time
for the Primal Space giveaway.

The winner of the previous giveaway
is Leon.

Congrats!

In the next video we'll be giving away
this Primal Space designed Venice poster.

All you need to do
is sign up at the link below,

like the video, and leave a comment

saying what you think about Venice.

Thank you very much for watching

and I'll see you in the next video.