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The Crazy Engineering of Venice

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    The year is 452
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    The Roman Empire
    is on the brink of collapse
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    and the Huns have just launched
    their attack on Northern Italy.
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    Several cities are completely destroyed
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    forcing the locals to go on the run.
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    They head for a lagoon just off the coast
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    and take refuge on several small islands,
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    a decision that would
    no doubt save their lives.
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    Against all odds, this small civilization
    eventually went on to build
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    one of the most impressive
    feats of engineering
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    the world has ever seen.
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    Venice.
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    Despite having no roads,
    no land and no fresh water,
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    the Venetians managed
    to turn a muddy swamp
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    into the most powerful
    and wealthiest city of its time.
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    This unique layout of canals and bridges
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    woven through hundreds of islands
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    made Venice incredibly accessible
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    and it became
    the epicenter of all business.
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    We modeled the entire thing
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    to show you what's going on
    beneath the surface
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    and how its clever design
    and medieval engineering
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    allowed it to take over the world.
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    When the first refugees arrived
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    to start their new lives on the islands
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    they had the worst possible surface
    to build on.
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    The small, marshy Islands were made
    of an incredibly soft clay
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    which would barely hold
    the weight of a human
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    let alone an entire city.
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    To create stable foundations for buildings
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    the Venetians collected large timber piles
    from the forests of Croatia
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    and started hammering them
    into the ground.
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    They drove them them about 5m deep
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    until they reached
    a much harder layer of clay.
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    Not only did this stabilize the piles,
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    but by packing them really close together
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    it compressed the surrounding clay
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    pushing out the water
    and making it much stronger.
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    Once the piles were firmly in the ground
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    the tops were cut off
    and wooden planks were laid on top
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    to spread the load.
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    Special blocks of Istrian stone
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    were then placed to raise
    the foundations above the water.
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    This design was a stroke of genius
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    as the wooden piles
    were sealed away from the air
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    making it impossible for them to rot.
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    To this day almost all
    of the original piles
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    are in great condition
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    and are still holding up the city.
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    Once the foundation
    had been properly laid down
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    the buildings themselves were built.
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    Venetians started off
    using wood for their houses
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    but after numerous fires,
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    they switched to brick.
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    To keep the buildings
    as lightweight as possible
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    they had to be
    no more than 3 stories high.
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    Lime mortar had to be used
    instead of cement
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    because it was flexible
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    and would allow
    the entire building to flex
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    as the ground beneath slowly moved.
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    The inner walls were built
    in a criss-cross pattern
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    that would also flex like a trellis.
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    The facade walls which had large windows
    and elegant stone designs
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    made them much heavier
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    and so, in order
    to stop them from falling over
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    they were pinned into the floor
    using iron rods
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    keeping the entire building together.
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    This method of building
    worked well for the Venetians
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    and soon several islands around the lagoon
    were established in this way.
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    Instead of expanding
    outwards like most cities,
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    these islands expanded into each other.
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    At first, boats were the only way
    to cross between the islands
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    but eventually the islands
    grew closer together
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    and many could be crossed
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    by simply wading
    through the shallow water on a horse.
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    The next step in Venice's evolution
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    would of course be connecting the islands.
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    Surprisingly there were no bridges
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    for the first 500 years
    of Venice's existence.
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    But as the population increased
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    and business started to ramp up
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    there needed to be
    an easier way to reach Rialto,
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    the financial center of Venice.
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    And so, the Doge of Venice
    set up a prize
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    for the engineer that could design
    the best bridge.
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    He announced this by putting up
    displate posters all around the city.
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    In order to turn Venice
    from a collection of islands
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    into a bustling city,
    bridges had to be built.
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    The first attempt
    was a simple pontoon bridge
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    that joined the two largest sections
    of Venice together
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    and crucially provided
    quick access to the Rialto area.
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    The bridge was later upgraded
    to a wooden bridge
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    which eventually burned down
    and collapsed
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    before it was finally replaced
    by a much stronger stone bridge.
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    To build it, over 12,000 timber piles
    were driven into the banks of the canal
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    and 10,000 tons of stone
    were built on top
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    to form the bridge.
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    To this day the bridge still stands
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    and it serves as the main artery
    in the center of Venice.
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    After this, stone bridges
    started to pop up everywhere
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    turning Venice into a compact city
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    made up entirely of canals
    instead of roads.
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    This gave Venice a unique advantage
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    since the canals allowed goods
    and traffic
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    to flow quickly
    through every part of the city.
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    The messy overlap of pedestrians
    and horse-drawn traffic
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    didn't exist in Venice
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    since the walkways and canals
    were completely separated.
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    Yet people could transition
    between the two effortlessly,
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    without slowing down.
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    By now the city had become
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    the most powerful
    and richest city in Europe.
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    Everything being bought and sold
    went through Venice
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    and the Venetians were making
    enormous amounts of money.
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    But as business increased,
    so did the population
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    and the demand for fresh water
    was out of control.
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    Despite being surrounded by water,
    Venice couldn't use any of it
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    since it was extremely
    salty and undrinkable.
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    Without natural springs or rivers
    to collect fresh water
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    Venice relied upon boats
    to deliver water from the mainland
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    but with 170,000 people,
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    the demand became too much
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    and the Venetian engineers
    had to get creative.
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    From the beginning, Venetian islands
    were built around squares
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    which were initially just empty fields
    for animals to graze upon.
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    The idea was to use these squares
    to collect rainwater.
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    They started by digging out
    large areas under the entire square
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    and lining the walls
    with a thick layer of clay
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    to make it waterproof.
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    The space was then filled in
    with sand and stones
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    and the surface was redone with tiles
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    that would lead the water
    towards each corner of the square.
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    From here, rainwater
    would flow into the basin
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    and gradually filter
    through the sand and stones
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    until it reached the main well
    at the center of the square.
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    To maximize the surface area
    for water collection,
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    the roofs of the nearby buildings
    were fitted with gutters
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    that would direct the water
    onto the square and into the drains.
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    Venice then became an enormous funnel
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    which filled more than 600 wells
    around the city.
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    The Venetians had once again
    engineered a masterpiece
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    to save its city.
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    But there was still one huge problem.
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    Waste.
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    Until this point, people threw
    all of their waste out of the window,
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    some of it landing in the canal.
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    But for those who didn't live
    within throwing distance of a canal,
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    urine, feces and rotten food
    all ended up in the streets.
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    And so, in the 16th century,
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    the Venetians started building
    a network of underground tunnels
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    that would collect the waste
    from every building
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    and flush it into the canal.
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    When the tide of the lagoon was down
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    solid waste would collect at the bottom
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    and the liquids would naturally
    flow into the canals.
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    Then, when the tide rose,
    it would flood the tunnels
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    and pull the solid waste into the canal.
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    The motion of the tide
    coming in and out twice a day
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    would exchange the dirty water
    for fresh water from the sea
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    flushing Venice from all of its waste.
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    The extremely salty water
    worked as a strong disinfectant
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    and thanks to this system,
    the streets became clean.
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    Amazingly, almost all of the incredible
    engineering that made Venice
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    is still around today.
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    The bridges, the canals, the buildings
    are all ancient relics
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    sitting on a forest
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    that has held up the entire city
    for over a thousand years.
  • 8:55 - 8:58
    And now, time
    for the Primal Space giveaway.
  • 8:58 - 9:02
    The winner of the previous giveaway
    is Leon.
  • 9:02 - 9:02
    Congrats!
  • 9:03 - 9:07
    In the next video we'll be giving away
    this Primal Space designed Venice poster.
  • 9:07 - 9:10
    All you need to do
    is sign up at the link below,
  • 9:10 - 9:13
    like the video, and leave a comment
  • 9:13 - 9:15
    saying what you think about Venice.
  • 9:15 - 9:17
    Thank you very much for watching
  • 9:17 - 9:19
    and I'll see you in the next video.
Title:
The Crazy Engineering of Venice
Description:

AD: Go to https://displate.com/primalspace and check out designs with the new Textra finish.

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

Thanks for watching this Primal Space video. If you enjoyed it, let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to subscribe so you can see more videos like this!

Support Primal Space by becoming a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/primalspace

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/thePrimalSpace

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

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
09:28

English subtitles

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