Editing Venice (section)

==== Building foundations ====
Those fleeing barbarian invasions who found refuge on the sandy islands of Torcello, Iesolo, and Malamocco, in this coastal lagoon, learned to build by driving closely spaced [[Deep foundation|piles]] consisting of the trunks of [[alder]] trees, a wood noted for its water resistance, into the mud and sand,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/alder.html |title=Mythology and Folklore of the Alder |last=Kendall |first=Paul |date=25 August 2010 |website=[[Trees for Life (Scotland)|Trees for Life]] |access-date=6 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805135339/http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/alder.html |archive-date=5 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cvni.org/treenursery/trees/alder |title=Alder – Alnus glutinosa |publisher=Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland |access-date=6 August 2011}}</ref> until they reached a much harder layer of compressed [[clay]]. Building foundations rested on plates of [[Istrian stone|Istrian limestone]] placed on top of the piles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Standish |first=Dominic |chapter=Barriers to barriers: why environmental precaution has delayed mobile floodgates to protect Venice |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/441655 |editor-last=Okonski |editor-first=Kendra |title=Adapt or die: the science, politics and economics of climate change |page=40 |year=2003 |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1-86197-795-3 |access-date=28 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bressanin |first=Anna |date=2025-03-26 |title=Mud, water and wood: The system that kept a 1604-year-old city afloat |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250324-the-ancient-forest-that-supports-venice |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>