1. Venice Steven Dutch University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

3. Founding of Venice Early centuries CE: settled by refugees from mainland Lombards 568 Byzantine Empire to 751 800-1100 Becomes independent city state

4. Keeping Dry City built on wood pilings –Deforestation of east coast of Adriatic –Piles in anoxic setting, do not decay –Many still intact after centuries Foundations of Stone River Diversion to prevent silting of lagoon

5. Venice Rising 1172 Republic formed 1178 Brenner Pass captured 1100-1200 Occupies east shore of Adriatic to suppress piracy 1204 Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople 1200-1300 Peaks as maritime and trade power Marco Polo 1271-1295

6. Arsenal of Venice

7. Renaissance Venice War is commerce by other means –Important supplier of mercenaries Italian Wars 1494-1559 Papal Interdict 1509 Artistic Peak –Titian (c. 1488 -1576) –Tintoretto (1518 -1594) –Bellini (c. 1430 -1516) Our Bad: Blew up the Parthenon, 1687

8. Heart of Venice

9. St. Mark’s Square

10. St. Mark’s Basilica

11. Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo

13. Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge

14. Bridge of Sighs

15. Heart of Venice

16. Modern Venice European fashion and cultural capital, 1700’s –Vivaldi 1678-1741 –Casanova 1725-1798 Conquered by Napoleon 1797 –End of 1070 years of independence Off and on occupation by Austria until 1866 Incorporated into modern Italy 1866

17. Future Venice?

23. If everything beneath Venice is full of water, how can extracting water make Venice sink? Wouldn’t sea water just replace whatever is taken out?

24. Answer: Artesian Wells

25. The Big Picture

26. Water Drawdown by 1975

27. And Venice Sinks…

28. So What’s a Few Inches? Venice doesn’t have a lot of inches to spare Acqua alta (High Water) during storm tides and spring tides Persistent flooding of lower stories Salt water attack on masonry, metal Add to other natural sinking We want Venice to last for centuries

29. Saving Venice Stop Pumping Wells Halted in 1960’s Subsidence and Sea Level Rise Barriers at Lagoon Mouth What About Large Sea Level Change? Dikes? Raise or Relocate Prize Structures? Abandon?

30. “Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky” “Dust in the Wind,” Kansas “Nothing lasts forever, not even the earth and sky” Geology