How is the wood Venice is built on not decomposing over time?

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(Not sure about the flair.. sorry)
Wooden beams in earth (like with fences) rot over the years and break.
I was under the impression that this was because of water.
Shouldn’t Venice “sink” because of rotten beams?

In: Earth Science

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Medieval Copenhagen was also build on wooden beams.
The land Copenhagen is build on, is mostly wetlands, though almost all of it is now drained.
When old foundations are removed, you can get these ancient wooden beams out of the ground, that have these beautiful dark veins from being submerged for ages. They used to be sold to woodworkers for furniture material, but AFAIK since it happens so rarely, they are given to the archaeologists of the national museum.
Sunken logs do go for a rather high price, than normal timber, due to their special look.

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