Venice Italy/ Venedig Italien

Venedig ist die Hauptstadt der Region Venetien in Norditalien und wurde auf mehr als 100 kleinen Inseln in einer Adria-Lagune erbaut. Als Verkehrswege gibt es dort nur wenige Straßen und fast ausschließlich Kanäle, darunter den Canale Grande mit seinen Palästen aus der Renaissance und Gotik. Am zentralen Markusplatz befindet sich der Markusdom mit byzantinischen Mosaiken und dem Glockenturm, von dem aus der Blick über die roten Dächer der Stadt geht.

It is, without doubt, one of the most famous cities in the world. Certainly one of the most famous in Europe, and pretty much the most famous thing in Italy, give or take a Colosseum here and a Trevi Fountain there. Yet even Venice – instantly recognisable to anyone with eyes – has the capacity to surprise.

True, if you look at a map of Europe, Venice is very much Italian. But the curiosities of its construction hide an international secret. The wooden piles on which the city was famously built – hard nuggets of alder which were driven down through layers of sand and mud into the compressed clay which underpins the city – were sourced from the Karst region of what is now Slovenia, and from forests further south in what are now Croatia and Montenegro. These supports have done their job with sturdy water-resistant efficiency for centuries. Even so, Venice is notoriously sinking by up to 2mm every year.

Liebe Grüsse aus Venedig! Juves