Italy Blog #6: Venice: The Italian Job Boat Garage, Floods and Cistern HIstory

Tom and Rob enjoy pasta at Cafe 1812 outside

In this sixth blog about our trip to Italy, we're still in Venice and we'll show you the Italian Job Boat Garage and give you some Cistern HIstory.

GOOD FOOD AT CAFE 1812- If you're looking for a good meal (and not wanting to wait until 7pm when 90% of the restaurants start serving dinner), the small Cafe 1812 in Dorsoduro was our favorite spot. In fact, we dined there the couple of days we were in Venice (because we like to eat early). Despite the on-off rain, we did get a rain free meal outside under an umbrella.

THE BOAT GARAGE- The garage where the boats were stored in the 2003 film "The Italian Job" was actually in the canal alongside our hotel, the Palazzo Stern! In fact, it was under the building directly behind our hotel (which made it impossible to get a picture). But, that spot is a popular place for tourists to try and see. We put an arrow on the photo pointing to the opening of the garage in the street beside our hotel.



WHAT IS THE ITALIAN JOB film (2003)- If you didn't see the movie, here's a brief synopsis from IMDB's website: Led by John Bridger  and Charlie Croker a team is assembled for one last heist to steal $35 million in gold bars from a heavily guarded safe in Venice, Italy. After successfully pulling off the heist, a team member, Steve   driven by greed and jealousy, arranges to take the gold for himself and eliminate the remaining members of the group. Thinking the team dead, he returns to L.A. with the gold. The rest of the team plans and executes a daring heist that weaves through the freeways and subways of L.A. to get their gold back. 



VENICE'S FLOODING CISTERN HISTORY- We learned that Venice used cisterns to get drinking water for hundreds of years until a great flood that contaminated all of them with salt water and rendered them useless. So, they were all sealed off.

One of many inactive cisterns

   The cisterns were located in every campo (public area), which made them easily accessible to the public. Of course, wealthier folks had their own, but it didn't matter after the flooding- they were all rendered unusable.  Most campos were equipped with a cistern to trap and save rainwater.  The cistern consisted of a brick-lined chamber filled with sand.  Rain water filtered down through the sand to maintain purity.

A canal in Venice, Dorsoduro

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1966 AND MANY OTHER FLOODS: On November 4, 1966, an abnormal occurrence of high tides, rain-swollen rivers and a severe Sirocco wind caused the canals to rise to a height of 194 cm or 6 ft 4inches. It caused over six million dollars worth of damage to the various art throughout Venice; Other floods were experienced in Nov. 1927, Dec. 1933, March 1964, Feb. 1974, 1980, Nov. 1996, Nov. 20016, Oct. 2006, Jan. 2010, Nov. 2011, Oct. 2012 and Nov. 2012. In most cases, Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) was underwater (and people even boated over it). 


NEXT: The Oddities of a Gondola and the Gondola Shop