Venice is a city built on water and it is not surprising that Venice's canals and rios are an important part of the city's identity.

What are the canals in Venice?

There are only three canals in Venice:



• the Grand Canal
• the Giudecca Canal and
• the Cannaregio Canal.

What are the "rii" of Venice?

The narrowest waterways in Venice are called 'rii'. There are about 170 rii that form the city's winding network, through which only small boats can pass. The first thing one might ask about Venice is: how did they build their canals? The answer is simple: they did not build them.

The canals were created by Mother Nature. The Venetians lived on islands in the lagoon and had to travel by boat from one island to another.

How did they build Venice on water?

Venice was and still is a collection of islets, connected only by the 340 bridges scattered around the city, without which it would not be possible to walk. The idea of building a city on water might seem bizarre to many visitors, who often ask: "what is under the buildings?" The answer is simple: wooden poles 25 metres long. 

Venice, in fact, essentially rests on thousands of wooden piles, embedded in the clayey sand below. And this was the technique initially adopted by the first inhabitants to arrive in the area, who were not deterred by the hardships of the location. Even though the water in the canals is not very clean, it is renewed every six hours thanks to the tide, which ensures a daily flow of water back into the towns.

The article The canals and canals of Venice comes from Venice City Tours - Blog.