Venice [antikvár]

Constructional plan of the foundations of the Rialto Bridgetaken from II Campanile di S. Marco riedificato, publishedby Venice Town Council (1912).1) The bulkhead or external protecting wall designed to holdback the water which is essential in order to carry out the workof laying the foundations in the dry. 2) Piles up to six thousandin number supporting the huge raft. 3) The raft itself. 4) Themasonry. 5) Average level of water. 6) Bottom of the Canal.The fantastic originality and atmosphere of Venice are causedmost of all by its environment; the city stands on soil onlyjust above the level of the lagoon. The nature of this soil variesaccording to its depth, and, in any case, the upper layers ofit, which are mostly made up of silt, seaweed and shells, wouldnot offer sufficient resistance to the weight of the buildings ontop. It was therefore necessary to consolidate them before be-ginning to build, by means of piles and onto this giganticforest build a sort of platform a huge raft with immenseplanks.A trustworthy record of all this is to be found in the bookVenezia citta nobilissima del Sansovino, by G. Martinioni,published in Venice in 1663, in which the author describes thelaying of the foundations of the church of the Salute. The workwas begun by driving one million one hundred and six thou-sand six hundred and fifty-seven piles of oak ,alder and larch,averaging four metres in length, into the mud. This work wasdone with the greatest possible speed, yet it took about twoyears and two months to do. On top of them a 'zatterone' ahuge raft made of immense planks of oak and larch, welljoined and chained together, was placed.Then wilth stones and cement the work of building the greatmachine tin the shape and model planned by the architect wasbegun.