A Sinking City By: Victoria Le No comments

Have you heard of the ‘essentialism’ of a place before? – I didn’t until now! It is basically when you focus on one key aspect of the place instead of looking beyond the surface level. For example, when I think of Germany, I think of beers! However, I know that Germany has more to offer than just beers and it’s not like you’re going see everyone holding a beer all the time!

This made me think about how I might have ‘essentialised’ Venice. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Venice, I think the ‘City on Water’. I imagine it to be this romantic city where you have the sun setting as you float down the Grand Canal in a gondola. But, what many people fail to realise is that it’s a sinking city.

Credits: 'Treyson's cool science stuff' Blogspot

A long time ago, people were escaping barbarian raids by moving to nearby islands. They soon discovered that they needed to build a strong foundation to make permanent houses so they drove wooden pilings into the mud, sand and clay, which has formed Venice to be what it is today! Wood seems to be weak structure to build upon compared to stone or brick, but it actually turns into a stone-like structure over time, as it is constantly submerged in salt water where there is minimal contact to oxygen.

With that being said, the city is starting to sink. Over time, more and more buildings have been built on this wooden foundation. It is only natural that the structures would give over time. But to add to this, there have been more frequent floods in Venice and the water levels are rising due to global warming.

It makes me worried that Venice doesn’t have long to live and we’ll be losing this beautiful city!

Gothic Architecture By: Victoria Le No comments

You know what I have discovered recently? I really have an appreciation for different types of architecture. I would be wondering around the city and just casually look up to see what’s around me. I am definitely not an expert in architecture in any form or manner but I just love looking at how each city’s architecture has evolved over time. So, why not explore Venetian architecture!   

While doing some research, I came across an interesting type of Architecture called Gothic Architecture. I know what you’re thinking – dark colours and haunted houses. But, it’s the complete opposite to that!

It originated from Paris in the 13^th Century before arriving in Venice by the 14^th Century. If you look at the windows of some of the buildings around Venice, they have an arch that comes to a tapered point – that’s Gothic Architecture! I believe a lot of these windows are elongated to bring in more light to the buildings. It has been said that may have been borrowed from Islamic architecture, which was inspired by the Moorish Spain.

Doge's Palace
Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica

Although you may spot these windows in other countries around Europe like France and Germany, the Venetian designs differ slightly in the sense that they tend to have an arch (a tear drop shape). One of the reasons in having this type of design is to elevate some of the thrust and in turn have thinner columns or piers to support these arches.

You can see this type of architecture at Doge’s Palace and St Mark's Basilica! Although they are popular tourist attractions, people can easily overlook their Architectural history. I think I might hunt around for tour about this when I do go!

Venetian Calli (Streets) By: Victoria Le No comments

Walking around Venice, there are a number of different symbols like the winged lions or the gondolas that tell you a bit about the city and its past. But what most people will probably miss are the street names! You’re probably thinking, street names are just street names – what more can there be? Except, that’s not the case in Venice!

Back in the 19^th Century, a train station was built and slowly, visitors stopped coming with their boats. This resulted in some canals being filled to make room for more pathways and now they are marked with street names that represent its past. For example, “Salizzada” means ‘paved’ and it marks the earliest canals that were filled in with more expensive gray stones called ‘Trachyte’, differing to later canals that were packed with earth.

Credits: Travel Adventure

There are a number of other streets that are named this way. Some of these street names give you a glimpse of what the space was previously used for:

•  “Ramo” – refers to an alleyway that was only used to access homes whose main entrances were canals. Nowadays, people tend to know them as a branch of a street

• “Fondamenta” – translates into ‘foundation’. These pathways were designed to help reinforce banks or form the foundations of the buildings beside them

• “Campo” – denotes an area that used to be a large square of a field. Similarly, the smaller fields were given names that had “Campiello” in them. Both of these originated the word “Campi” which means field or meadow! 

These everyday street signs appear to be so ordinary but they indicate what used to be – that is why I love exploring symbols like these! It makes me wonder what else has been named based on its past use or history.