The City of Venice is built on a collection of over 100 low islands in the centre of the Lagoon. To overcome these difficult and testing conditions, the Venetians evolved techniques unique to the city in order to overcome the problems associated with the low muddy islands.

The early Venetians built in water-proof stone from Istria upon rafts made of larch and timber piles driven deep into the island. These slender piles were made from Oak and Pine harvested in the forests of the northern Veneto, the mainland opposite Venice, and floated down rivers to the lagoon. These piles provided a flexible but sturdy foundation once driven into the islands subsoil to rest upon the solid compressed clay that underlied the islands of the Lagoon. The buildings themselves were normally built on a framework of wood with brick ontop of this framework and then a facing of some heavier stone. This maintained the lightness of buildings, saving the foundations from excessive weight but made fire a real threat to the city. These methods proved surprisingly effective and some Venetian building have stood for over 400 years and look set to continue to do so. By 1500 the city was in a shape that would continue for the next few hundred years before new building would change its outline.

The canals of Venice were mostly natural features already there, those dug were typically done so in the conventional way canals were dug - blocking off the ends and digging out the canal before flooding it. The bed of the canal was typically a mixture of sand and clay and the main maintenance required was dredging to clear the accumulation of rubbish.

Self-contained communities

The fabric of Venice is made up of scores of self-contained islands, each with their own community linked to other, neighbouring communities by bridges. Each island community was built around a Campo or square and had its own water supply in the shape of the well in the centre of the campo, there tended to be a church on the campo with its own free-standing bell tower or campanile. The square would be the focus of local activity and would have markets and so on. The palazzi, or palaces, bordering the campos would open shops in their ground floor warehouses. The farther away from a canal and a campo a location was the lower its perceived value. Many houses and workshops away from the squares were linked by narrow alleyways and sidestreets that were unpaved.

Bridges are not as common a one might suspect. There is a single bridge across the Grand Canal, the Ponte di Rialto, made initially of wood and later of white marble from Istria. Bridges over lesser canals are often privately owned with tolls charged in some cases. None of these bridges have hand rails just a low coaming at the edges of the bridge, a problem for unwary nightime travellers. Often Bravi, or 'toughs', hide in the shadows of the landing point just next to the bridge and surprise travellers.

Wells are the only source of fresh water for the residents of Venice. The water of the Lagoon is too brackish to drink. The buildings surrounding the campos in which the well is built had guttering carefully arrabged so that the collected water would run off into the well in the centre of the square. Channelled through pavement grills, rainwater ended up in a huge, clay-lined cistern, filled with sand that would act as a filter. The water then seeped into the well which could be identified by the ornate well-head that was the custom to place on wells. The reliance of Venice upon the wells for a water supply is indicated in its laws which prohibited beasts, unwashed pots and unclean hands from touching the water. Deliberate contamination was punishable by death!

Constructed in a city without roads, Venetian housing has evolved in different ways from that of the other cities of Europe. Since visitors usually arrive by boat, the facade facing the canal was given lavish architectural treatment, whilst the landward side was rarely as ornate. Most houses in Venice are built with three storeys, the kitchens located on the ground floor for easy access to water, or in the attic to allow for the escape of kitchen smells. Typically a Venetian Palazzo or palace, served as a warehouse and business premises as well as a family home.

Palazzos were often also refered to as Ca' short for casa or house. The name depended on who owned it and how they felt the house should be regarded. Whilst the fronting on the palazzos may change over time the interiors remain remarkably consistent. The palazzo is built around a courtyard, normally with its own well in the centre.
The courtyards were built offcentre and this lead to the palazzo resembling a square doughnut with an offcentre hole. The individual floors would wrap around this awkward floorplan, sometimes with a gallery looking down into the courtyard.

The Ground Floor

This was used for the transaction of business with :

Storerooms

Offices

The Piano Nobile - Grand Floor

Located on the first floor over the warehouses of the ground floor.

This floor was used to entertain guests and was lavishly decorated.

The Upper Floor

This housed the family and was less lavishly decorated than the Piano Nobile.

This floor would contain the standard complement of rooms required to live in as well as a study or library for the husband to work in.

The Attic

Built into the roof space were rooms for the servants.

Byzantine (12th and 13th Centuries)

These are the earliest surviving private palazzi and reflect the influenceof the Byzantine Styles of the time.

Ground floor arcades

Arched open galleries which run the length of the first floor

For Example : Fondaco dei Turchi

Gothic (13th to 15th Centuries)

These elaborate palazzi are more numerous than any other style in Venice.

Elegant arches in Istrian stone

Fine tracery, giving a lace-like appearance

Pointed arches

Carved window heads

For Example : Palazzo Duccale

Renaissance (15th to 16th Centuries)

Often built in sandstone, rather than traditional brick and based on Classical Architecture with an emphasis on harmonious symmetry.

Typically included motifs from ancient Greece and Rome

Fluted columns with Corinthian capitals

Semi-circulr arches

Bold, projecting roof cornices

Lavish stone carvings which none but the rich could afford

For Example : Palazzo Grimani

Baroque(17th Century)

With its roots in the Renaissance Classicism this style was far more exuberant, revelling in bold ornamentation.

No surface is left uncarved

Garlands, swags, cherubs, grotesque masks and rosettes are everywhere

Recessed windows are flanked by clusters of columns

Lower walls typically of massive blocks with deep ridges to give solidity to lower walls

For Example : Ca' Pesaro

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