The Silent Archipelago

Hermann Hesse in his travel notes while in Italy wrote “Mai la Laguna di Venezia si è rivelata così felicemente ai miei occhi come in una mattina di maggio che dedicai quasi per intero a contemplarla. Non conosco nulla di più allietante di quelle ore, in cui un rimarchevole tratto della natura o un’opera d’arte si dispiega per la prima volta agli occhi del visitatore con tale chiarezza e trasparenza che la sua attenta osservazione consente di rintracciare immediatamente lo spirito creatore di bellezza.” (Il Viandante)

The Venetian Lagoon is one of the oldest and most complex examples of relationship between human activities and natural dynamics; it can be considered as a natural-social-cultural landscape that illustrates the combined work of man and nature over the centuries, under the influence of physical-geological constraints and environmental, social, economic and cultural opportunities.

The Venetian Lagoon covers 550 km square and is dotted with small islands. It was formed about 6,000 years ago when the sandbanks consolidated and formed a barrier with the Adriatic Sea. Over the centuries, various human interventions were carried out in the lagoon, the most important were made during the Serenissima Republic, for example the deviation of the mouths of the rivers, while today with the Mose. These actions were and are necessary to preserve the natural equilibrium of the lagoon with the constant exchange of the waters, thus avoiding their atrophy and, also important, to keep the maritime trade routes open in the Adriatic Sea.

In this inland sea rises in the middle of a tiny archipelago one of the most extraordinary living areas of the Middle Ages. From Torcello in the north to Chioggia in the south, almost every small island had its own settlement, town, fishing and artisan village. This is the reign of legends and dreams.
The lagoon is rich with flora, fauna and human settlements still active commercially and economically.

The combination of mud banks, shallow water and reeds makes this a perfect habitat for all types of birds. Bird life on the lagoon surrounding Venice is remarkable and represents one of the areas of greatest importance. There are many breeding and passing species. We find among the many species present cormorants, herons (greater white and grey), hawks, ducks, and even pink flamingos.

In addition, the territory is rich in small animals that form the zooplankton: eggs, larval and adult forms, belong to molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, polychaetes and other zoological groups. We find a rich repertoire of crustaceans and molluscs, not to mention many fish species that are also breed in the valleys.