The last time we talked about the canals of Venice was on the occasion of the fluorescent color that the waters of the Grand Canal had taken on. But in case of blockage, how do you clean one? A photo dating back to 1956 shows us the first time a canal was drained to be cleaned.
For the first time that year the characteristic Venetian canals, which represent the very essence of the city, were the subject of a emptying and large-scale cleanup. This ambitious project, commonly known as “Popolazio’s Turning Points”, aimed to improve hygienic conditions and to preserve the infrastructure of the lagoon city.
Over the centuries they had accumulated a considerable quantity of sediments, debris and waste of various kinds, giving rise to situations of degradation and jeopardizing the city’s precious architectural heritage. The decision to proceed with emptying and cleaning the channels arose from the need to remedy these problems, in order to restore the waterways to their original beauty and safeguard the cultural and historical uniqueness of Venice.
The implementation of this project required efficient coordination and extraordinary commitment from a team composed of engineers, workers and volunteers. The waters of the canals were pumped out, revealing the muddy bottom and treasures buried beneath the surface, such as shipwrecks, ancient artifacts and structures from ancient times. The process involved operations of dredging, brushing And excavation to free the channels from layers of debris and return the waterways to their original depth and clarity.
However, it is worth highlighting that there are no official historical documents which attest to the actual realization of an event called “Popolazio’s Turning Point” in Venice in 1956. Therefore, the story provided by unofficial historiography could be a fictionalized narrative or a misunderstanding. The term could in fact refer to another significant event in the history of Venice or be an expression used to describe an epochal change in the lagoon city.
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