How Two Thousand Years of Ingenious Engineering Saved Venice from the Sea!
It's not a miracle that Venice has survived surrounded by water, but rather an engineering marvel dating back more than two thousand years!
Beneath its stunning palaces, there isn't solid ground as some might imagine, but a hidden forest of over a million wooden beams embedded in the mud beneath the lake. Ancient builders used oak and alder wood, driving them deep into a solid clay layer.
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Remarkably, this wood hasn't rotted over the centuries because the oxygen-free, salty water prevented bacteria from damaging it. Instead, it gradually hardened the wood, making it as solid as stone. This secret has allowed the palaces of San Marco and the Doge's Palace to stand proudly despite time, storms, and floods.
Even today, Venetian architects rely on the same principle when restoring their ancient buildings, preserving the legacy of a city built on water that never sinks.