All language subtitles for Unearthed.(2016).S08E04.Ghosts.of.Venice.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-Cinefeel_track3_[eng]

Narrator: venice,

One of the most iconic
Cities in the world.

Home to spectacular
Medieval structures,

All linked by winding canals.

Venice is a city
Built on water.

It's magic and unique.

Narrator: constructed on
Unstable islands in the middle

Of a lagoon,

This impossible city
Defies all odds.

Can its ancient origins
Reveal why it is

Created here and how it is
Still standing?

Today, scientists use
Pioneering acoustic

Imaging technology to scan
Venice's canals.

Narrator: and dive into
The lagoon's deep trenches

To hunt for clues to
The city's ancient roots.

Is a shocking death pit evidence
Of venice's dark history?

We found thousands
Of skeletons.

Narrator: and can a
Revolutionary new megastructure

Stop venice from sinking
Beneath the waves?

To solve these mysteries,

We unearth venice's
Ancient foundations.

We deconstruct the famous
Rialto bridge,

Uncover sunken ships,

And come face-to-face with
The city's buried victims

To reveal the secrets of this
Magnificent floating city.

Venice,

An iconic city

Sheltered in a lagoon in
The northeast of italy.

This spectacular medieval
Attraction welcomes over

20 million visitors

Every year to its megastructures
And grand canals.

[ boat horn blowing ]

With every inch of
The islands covered

By building, everyone and
Everything travels by water.

Canals are
Its main streets,

And people use them
To get around every day.

Narrator: but this extraordinary
City has humble beginnings.

1,600 years ago, venice is
Just a marshy lagoon.

Today, it's a city
Like no other,

A patchwork of
Over 100 islands

Connected by 400 bridges

And 30 miles of canals.

At its heart is
St. Mark's square,

Home to the iconic
Clock tower and basilica.

It's a city brimming
With history,

Created from centuries of
Immense wealth,

Conflict, and power.

How does this extraordinary
Lagoon city

Come to be,
Rising from marshland

To become this
Magnificent masterpiece?

Guido giordano ventures to
An uninhabited island

Three miles
From the city center

To look for
Clues to the city's origin.

He wants to investigate what
Venice looks like

Before people live here.

A lagoon is the environment

That forms when major rivers

Meet the sea.

Narrator: the lagoon is formed
Thousands of years ago,

When the po and the piave
Rivers reach the adriatic sea

And drop tons of sediment
Into the water.

Over thousands of years,

The sediments pile up to form
Hundreds of marshy islands.

Giordano:
This material is very soft.

There's also this plant
That decompose,

And they make up that
Particular type of material

That we call peat.

Probably the softest
Sediment on earth.

Narrator:
How did the venetians build

A city on these seemingly
Impossible islands?

Knowing their territory
And the resources available,

They cut wooden piles from
The local forest

And used them to reshape
The islands.

Narrator:
The ground beneath venice

Is riddled with wooden piles.

Millions of them are driven
Into the water-logged silt.

Packed tightly
Just six inches apart,

They form a solid foundation
In the soft soil.

On top, wooden planks
And slabs of limestone

Create a strong base

For the venetians to build

Monumental masterpieces like
St. Mark's basilica.

Are these foundations
Enough to

Keep venice's majestic
Buildings standing strong?

The millions of
Wooden posts have

Stood resilient beneath
Venice for centuries.

They are a triumph of
Ancient engineering,

And they transform the muddy
Islands into solid ground,

Stable enough for thousands of
Homes, churches, and palaces.

But the 30 miles of snaking
Canals create fractures

Across the islands that put
The buildings at risk.

Venice's canals are
Naturally formed by

Water that flows
Between the islands.

The largest, the grand canal,

Runs for 2.5 miles and has
170 houses along its banks.

The buildings that
Teeter on the edge

Of the water are at risk of
Sudden collapse

If the ground gives way.

Fantina madricardo
Patrols the canals

To hunt for any signs
Of danger.

Narrator:
She uses innovative technology

To scan the sides and bottom
Of the canals

Throughout the year and detect
Any minute changes.

Narrator: fantina sends
Soundwaves down into the water.

When the soundwaves
Bounce back,

She records them to create
A 3d image of the canal floor.

Narrator: when fantina studies
The canals over time,

She discovers
Something surprising.

They're constantly shifting.

Narrator:
The constantly moving

Current erodes
The banks in some places

And deposits new
Sediment in others,

Changing the depth of
The canals and the shape of

The islands.

But this is not good
For a permanent city,

So medieval venetians come up
With a clever solution.

First, engineers barricade
The canal and drain the water.

Then they drive
Wooden piles into

The soft ground along
The edges.

On top, they build thick
Brick walls and face

The inner edge with
Impermeable stone

To make the walls waterproof.

When they refill the canal,

The solid walls prevent
The water from eroding

The islands so the venetians
Can build on every bit of land.

The walls still stand
To this day.

Along the canal banks,
The venetians

Construct stunning buildings,
Like the doge's palace

And salute church.

They create one of the most
Magnificent cities in the world

On land that should be
Impossible to build on,

And to help reduce the load
On the canal walls

And foundations, the venetians
Have another clever trick.

Instead of heavy stone,

They use light brick to
Construct their buildings

And build arches into
The walls to lighten the load

Even more,

Creating the iconic facades of
Venice we see today.

But modern life
In this bustling city

Creates a new problem.

Narrator: the boat traffic
Causes erosion

And degrades the walls
Of the canals.

Fantina's monitoring
Is crucial to

Pinpoint areas of walls
That need repair,

So they will last for
Centuries to come.

The medieval venetians
Maximize every bit of land.

They turn the city into one
Of the richest in the world.

How does venice
Become so successful?

Can secrets buried beneath

Its most famous landmark
Reveal clues?

Narrator: venice,

A megastructure suspended
Above the water.

This engineering marvel
Becomes one of

The richest cities
In the medieval world.

Why is it so wealthy?

One of the city's
Greatest landmarks,

The rialto bridge,
May hold clues.

It's an engineering wonder,

Standing on 12,000 wooden poles

That stop 10,000 tons of

Bridge from sinking
Into the muddy ground.

Massive masonry blocks form
Strong foundations

At either end.

A single arch of
Limestone blocks

Spans 94 feet
Across the grand canal,

The widest canal in venice.

And two rows of covered arches

Turn the bridge
Into a marketplace,

An engineering masterpiece,
One of

The first of its kind
In the world.

Why is this bridge so
Important to venice's success?

In the seventh century a.D.,

The venetian islands are
All separate towns.

Each town has a central
Square, water well, and church.

But as venice grows,
The venetians

Build bridges to connect
Neighboring islands.

Iconic structures like
The bridge of sighs

And the bridge
Of the three arches

Allow residents to move easily
Across the city,

But the enormous grand canal
Divides the east and west.

It spans more than 200 feet
In some parts

And seems impossible to
Bridge -- for centuries,

The venetians try but are met
With disaster.

In 1181,
They launch long pontoons

To create
A floating bridge.

It connects the east and west
For the first time.

Heavy foot traffic
Wears it down,

So the venetians build
A wooden tower bridge

In its place,
Allowing ships to pass.

In 1310, it burns down
In a revolt.

The venetians rebuild it,

But it collapses again
And again from constant use.

Leading architects compete
To build a new stone bridge,

But even michelangelo fails
To beat the winning design.

The rialto bridge connects
The east and west.

Now every venetian can travel
Across the city

To buy and sell
At its beating heart,

The rialto market.

International traders
Sail up the grand canal

To dock by
The famous bridge.

What are the venetians
Selling that

Draws merchants
From far and wide?

Giovanni caniato
Heads to the west side of

The bridge
To the bustling market

That continues to this day.

He believes the answer is

A surprisingly simple product --
Salt.

In order to preserve fish,
Preserve meat,

Preserve everything,
You needed salt,

And salt was needed also
For agriculture,

For lots of other reasons.

So salt was what's today
The petrol.

Narrator: salt is
Commonplace now,

But in the middle ages,
It's one of the most precious

Commodities in the world.

Its global importance is
Equivalent to that of oil today.

Salt was

One of the reasons why venice
Was so powerful and so rich.

Narrator: the shallow waters of
Venice's salty lagoon are

Ideal for the production of
This valuable mineral.

The venetians cleverly used
Their land to produce it.

They find themselves
At the heart of

A global salt trade.

People come from all over
The world to buy it.

The riches transform venice

Into a magnificent
Renaissance city.

Visionary architects design
The doge's palace,

The immense bell tower,
And the spectacular basilica,

Buildings unlike anything
The world has seen before.

But venice isn't only
A beautiful destination --

It becomes
A global powerhouse.

Can an astonishing
Underwater discovery

Reveal how venice
Expands its reach

And becomes the most powerful
Navy in europe?

Narrator:
Venice.

In the middle ages,
It's a global powerhouse.

How does this city
Become so influential?

A clue may lie in

An astonishing discovery
Found in the lagoon.

Eros turchetto

Knows these waters better
Than anyone else.

Every week, he heads out
To search for clues

Of venice's past.

Narrator: on one survey, eros
Makes an incredible discovery.

Three miles
Southwest of venice,

Preserved in the muddy bed
Of the lagoon,

Eros uncovers the hull of
A rascona,

A flat-bottomed medieval
Transport ship.

And next to it, the skeleton
Of an even bigger boat,

125 feet long,

Dating from
The early 14th century.

On its bow,

A carving reveals
A clue to what

The vessel looks like
In its prime.

What is this mysterious ship,

And what can it reveal
About the rise of venice?

♪♪

Narrator: the team of marine
Archaeologists erects

Enormous steel walls

Around the site
And analyzes the discovery.

The lack of oxygen
Under the mud

Helps preserve the remains
Of the ship.

The team records every detail.

Narrator: this is
The only boat of its kind

Discovered in europe.

Narrator: this is no ordinary
Fisherman's boat,

But a warship
From the 14th century.

What does this
Incredible vessel

Reveal about the rise
Of venice?

Stefano medas is an expert
In venice's medieval history.

He heads to a gigantic complex
In the city to find answers.

Narrator:
In the city center,

Just half a mile
From st. Mark's square,

These massive buildings cover
Over 5,000 square feet,

1/6 of venice's
Entire land area.

It's here that the venetians
Build ships

Like the one unearthed
In the lagoon.

Narrator: an arsenal is where
The military makes weapons

And equipment.

Normally, a warship would take
Many months to build,

But this enormous
Factory allows

The venetians to
Revolutionize shipbuilding.

In a dry dock,

Master shipbuilders
First build the frame

And then clad it
With wooden boards.

Next, they fit the ship
With masts

And tow the hull
To the next station

To hoist the sails.

And, as if
On a conveyor belt,

The ships pass from dock to dock
To be loaded with guns,

Ropes, anchors, and oars.

This efficient system enables
The venetian military to

Build a whole ship
In a single day,

Making venice a formidable
Naval power.

The venetians pioneer one of

The world's first
Production lines.

Narrator: thanks to this
Arsenal, the venetians are able

To build the most powerful
Navy in europe.

They ruled territories
As far as modern croatia,

Greece, and cyprus.

But their success comes
At a cost.

A discovery on
A secluded island in

The venetian lagoon reveals
A deadly catastrophe.

How can venice survive
Its greatest setback?

Narrator:
Venice -- 600 years ago,

It's one of the richest cities
In the world.

It attracts merchants
From all over the globe.

But could a macabre discovery
On a nearby island reveal

That, in the middle ages,

Venice is on the brink
Of collapse?

The tiny venetian island of

Lazzaretto vecchio hides
A chilling secret.

Buried beneath the courtyard

Is a mass grave,

Hundreds of bodies
Cast into a pit,

One on top of the other.

Forensic analysis shows
The bones belonged to men,

Women, and children,

A mix of europeans,
Africans, and asians.

Why are more than
1,500 people from

Across the world buried
On this tiny island?

And what is the cause of
Their death?

Lara meneghini leads
A death pit investigation.

Close examination of
The bones reveals no sign

Of cut marks or blunt trauma
To the skulls.

There's no evidence of murder.

Lara believes it must be
An invisible killer.

We found thousands
Of skeletons.

We think they died
For the plague.

Narrator:
The hundreds of people are all

Victims of bubonic plague,

A contagious bacterial disease
That begins

In central asia
In the 14th century

And repeatedly hits europe.

Death pits like these
Have been

Discovered on multiple islands
Within the lagoon.

Why are these people
All buried together

On these islands?

Lara searches for clues in
A warehouse on lazzaretto nuovo.

In the corner of the building,
She discovers

Medieval graffiti.

Here we have
The drawing of a ship,

Some trademarks, and also
A part of a writing telling us

That the ship came
From constantinople.

Narrator:
Merchant ships carrying goods

To venice are diverted here.

Can the graffiti reveal
Why the ships stop

And leave their crew
On this tiny island?

So this graffiti tell us
The story of a ship, which

Arrived in venice from greece.

The ship had to stop, and people
Were here for quarantine.

Narrator: the 16th-century
Graffiti is the first use

Of the term "Quarantine"
Discovered

Anywhere in the world.

It's proof that as

The venetians are designing
Their iconic buildings,

They also invent this disease
Control tactic.

In italian, quarantina
Means 40 days,

So incoming ships must dock
Here at these isolated islands

And wait for 40 days

Before continuing into venice.

Meneghini:
This island is the place

Where the quarantine system
Was invented.

From here,
It was adopted then all over

The mediterranean and then
All over the world.

Narrator: the venetians apply
This meticulous

Quarantine system
To every incoming boat.

Ships destined for venice
First unload their crew

And cargo

On an island at the edge of
The lagoon.

The goods are laid out
In long warehouses

And smoked with herbs
In the belief

This will eradicate traces
Of the plague.

Any sailors showing symptoms
Are sent to

The plague hospital
On a neighboring island.

After 40 days of quarantine,
Plague-free sailors

And their cargo are allowed
To continue on to the city.

A tall brick wall surrounds
The island to make sure

That no sailors escape
Their 40-day quarantine.

But lara's excavations
Reveal that the venetians try

To maximize the chance of
Survival for the sailors.

There were about 100 houses.

High walls were used to divide
The island in different

Isolation areas in

Order to keep separate people
That arrived at different times

Or from different places.

Narrator: the island is
Cleverly designed to

Reduce the chance of infection
Between ships' crews.

The houses contain
Everything needed

For a comfortable
40-day stay.

Meneghini: the houses were
Small and basic,

But could house between
2 to 4 people.

These are the ground floors
Of two houses divided by

This wall,

And this area is the area of
The fireplace.

Narrator: despite their clever
Tactical planning,

The city does not escape
The killer plague.

In the 1630s,

As many as a third of venice's
140,000 citizens die.

Today, bubonic plague is
Treated by antibiotics,

But quarantine is still
A vital weapon in the battle

Against untreatable
Infectious diseases.

Meneghini: the isolation system,
The quarantine system is

Still the public health
Response

In use today.

Narrator: this resilient city is
Determined to thrive

On isolated islands.

Thanks to its unique
Construction in the lagoon,

Venice overcomes
The deadly plague,

Builds thousands of warships,
And gains immense wealth.

The venetians establish
A floating metropolis with

Buildings suspended above
The water by wooden foundations.

But why are people
So determined

To live in such
An unusual setting?

Can new discoveries
On the edge of

The lagoon reveal what draws
The first settlers here?

Narrator: venice,
An extraordinary floating city.

The buildings in
This engineering marvel are

Suspended above the water
By wooden foundations.

Who are the first settlers
Of venice?

And why are
They so determined to

Live here on these seemingly
Inhospitable islands?

Carlo beltrame is
On a mission to

Find out who builds
This incredible place.

His team explores
The waters to

The north of the city
For clues.

Narrator: they hunt for signs
Of ancient building works,

Lost over time.

Okay.

Narrator:
The divers use innovative,

High-resolution underwater
Cameras to map

The bottom of the lagoon.

Hidden on the sea floor, they
Discover something remarkable,

A long, narrow stone plinth
That looks man-made.

The team analyzes samples of
The masonry for clues

To what this mysterious
Structure is and who builds it.

Carlo believes details
Locked inside

The masonry hold the answer.

Narrator: carlo uses evidence
From the survey

To date the roman
Pier's construction.

Narrator: this discovery
Is significant.

The dating suggests
The area around venice

Is inhabited by the romans
2,000 years ago.

Fellow archaeologist paolo
Mozzi believes the newly

Discovered pier could

Mean that more roman cities
Lie hidden in this area.

♪♪

This evidence indicate
That this was not

An isolated settlement,

But it was part of a network
Of settlements that was

Covering the northern lagoon.

Narrator: paolo takes
To the air to hunt

For more clues to
Venice's origins.

He uses aerial photos captured
With state-of-the-art

Multispectral cameras
To scour the coastline.

The cameras detect the water
Content in the soil,

Highlighting
Any solid structures

Hidden beneath the surface.

In the northern
Part of the lagoon,

Paolo finds evidence of lost
Roman infrastructure.

Mozzi: this means that as
A sort of a negative of

The image, we could see
The plan of the city.

Narrator: complete with temples
And theaters,

This lost roman city covers
An area the size of pompeii.

There was a settlement

Consisting of houses,
Of water wells, and a pier.

This means that people
Were really living here.

Narrator: paolo believes
This site provides

Clues to why venice
Is founded.

He launches
A full excavation.

As his team unearths the city
Piece by piece,

Its identity comes to light.

This is the lost city
Of altinum.

We're now in the heart of
The ancient city of altinum.

Their exquisite decoration
Shows that

There were very rich houses.

Narrator: altinum is one of
The wealthiest cities in

The roman empire in
The first century a.D.

Paolo's team excavates
The structures to

Decipher the entire plan
Of the city.

Mozzi: this street was
Connecting the city center

Where the public monuments were

To the harbor on
The shores of the lagoon.

In the aerial image, you can
See the trace of this street

That was going towards
The lagoon and the harbor

From the city center.

Narrator: one structure
Catches paolo's attention.

It's much wider
Than an ancient road,

And the aerial
Images suggest

It's a deep trench.

It leads straight
Into the lagoon.

Paolo thinks there's only
One explanation.

Mozzi: we could also identify
A major canal.

Narrator:
Just like venice today,

Altinum is built
Around canals.

Is this proximity
And similarity a coincidence?

Or can altinum's ruins
Reveal the origins of venice?

Paolo scours the ruined houses
And buildings for clues.

He analyzes the condition
Of these structures

And reaches
An extraordinary conclusion.

Only the floors remain,
Because after the abandonment,

The walls were destroyed.

Narrator:
This destruction reveals

The shocking end of altinum

And the birth of venice.

In the second century a.D.,
Just seven miles from where

Venice is today,

The port of altinum
Flourishes under roman rule.

But in the fifth century a.D.,

The barbarian huns attack
The roman city,

And the people of altinum
Flee for their lives.

They settle in the marshy
Islands of the lagoon,

Building their houses
On stilts

And relying on the water
For survival.

Over hundreds of years,
The islanders flourish.

They build a city naturally
Protected from

Invasion by the waters of
The lagoon.

The fall of altinum marks
The birth of venice.

The refugees salvage the stone
And bricks from their destroyed

City and use them to build
Their new island homes.

Venice rises against all odds.

It begins as a simple refuge
From barbarian attack,

And today, it is one of
The most iconic cities

On the planet.

This floating metropolis
Thrives for 1,600 years.

But can new research
Reveal a threat

To the survival of venice
In the future?

Narrator: venice -- a medieval
And renaissance masterpiece.

It rises from
Humble beginnings

As a refuge for romans
Fleeing the invading huns.

But now another threat is

On the horizon
For future generations.

Many fear that by the end of
This century,

Venice will be
Permanently flooded.

The rising water will slowly
Erode the foundations of

Venice's iconic structures and
Put them at risk of collapse.

The city will sink into
The water and eventually vanish,

Disappearing back into
The lagoon.

Is this really the fate
Of venice?

Four miles across
The lagoon from venice,

A small island may hold clues.

In 1328,
The island of boccalama

Is home to a monastery

Whose monks realize
Their home

Is disappearing
Into the lagoon.

The city of venice sends
The monks two ships,

Each laden with tons of earth
And sand.

The monks sink the ships on
The side of the island to act

As a breakwater, hoping to
Slow erosion from the sea.

But it doesn't stop
The island from sinking,

And by the 1500s,
The monastery is

Completely underwater.

Will venice
Suffer the same fate?

Guido giordano
Heads to one of

The most iconic piazzas
In the city to investigate.

Narrator: here in the piazza,
Guido finds alarming

Signs that venice
Is in real danger.

Narrator: venice is slowly
Subsiding into the mud.

Experts believe
The city's streets

Will be submerged
By the end of the century.

But as well as the long-term
Dangers of sinking,

The city faces a much more
Imminent threat.

Georg umgeisser works at
The marine research center

Of venice.

He studies the city's
Water levels.

Every year,

Venice is hit by high tides
Known as the acqua alta.

We always had storm surges,
We've always had high water.

Normally, high water is
During wintertime, november,

February and so on.

Narrator: georg and his
Colleagues have launched

A state-of-the-art research
And monitoring system.

We have an oceanographic
Platform out in the sea.

It's about 15 kilometers away
From the coast.

We have wave measurements.
We have tide measurements.

And we are then able to
Create forecasts.

Narrator:
Knowing when a flood may hit

Helps the venetians
To prepare for it.

The forecasts give
Locals time to raise flood

Barriers in the doorways of
Their shops and homes.

Today, georg carefully
Monitors the water level

As a freak storm
Hits venice.

The floodwaters start
To rise dangerously.

This graph shows us the water
Level of the last week,

And you can see normal water
Levels up to 2, 3 days ago.

And then we have a storm,
And you can see,

Yesterday evening,
We had high water

Above 1 meter
At st. Mark's square.

Narrator: as the storm rages
Into the evening,

Georg heads out to assess
The flooding.

This is st. Mark's square,

And this is the place where
You will see high water at its

Very best, because it's
The lowest point of venice.

Narrator: the waters here
Can reach more than

4 feet above sea level,

Covering most of
Venice's streets.

Here, we have
A little bit of water.

It's rising now,
But this could be

A situation of every day
In the next 50 years.

Narrator: georg's data reveals
That the rising waters

Are a devastating threat
To the city.

Over the last 50 years,
Venice has seen

Regular flooding.

However, in the last two years,
It has

Seen an increase
In exceptionally

High-level flooding.

In 2019, water levels
Hit a record high

Of 6 feet
Above the normal sea level.

Something is changing.

Climate change is happening.

Narrator: climate change
Is a direct threat

To the city of venice.

It causes rising sea levels
And increased flooding.

In an attempt
To save the city,

Engineers are nearing
Completion of 78 retractable

Flood barriers in the lagoon.

When the sea level
Rises during a storm,

The barriers will rise with it
To block the water.

Now the barriers have
Successfully risen in unison,

A monumental milestone
For the project.

The magnificent city of venice
Is safe for now.

Venice stands strong
For hundreds of

Years in the face
Of adversity.

Now this resilient city
Is ready to thrive

For hundreds more.

Venice --

From humble beginnings
As an island refuge,

It evolves into
A global powerhouse,

Building thousands of warships
And inventing

Quarantine islands
To safeguard its people.

The city flourishes
For 1,600 years,

And rises to become
The spectacular city

We see today.

And with ingenuity
And determination,

The people of venice
Will ensure that

It survives for hundreds
Of years to come.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪