From the days of Venice's origins over 1200 years ago, when it was no more than a couple of huts on stilts, Venetians have been developing and refining the skills required to maintain a city that literally rises from the water.

We often stopped to spend a few minutes watching some maintenance crew working in this unique and beautiful setting.

Workers in the photo on the left are putting up scaffolding so that they can repair a wall that is, as is so often the case in Venice, also the wall of the canal.