Wells
This page is an overview of all the wells on Venice. For a typical well, see Well
Wells were the primary drinking sources in Venice between the 11th century and the 19th century. There are more than 5000 cistern wells under the streets of Venice, but their wellheads have almost all been removed or destroyed, leaving only 260 remaining wellheads in Venice. These wells no longer serve any functional purpose but still exist beneath the streets of Venice.
 A Venetian Well Structure [1] | |
| Number of Mainland Wells Recorded | |
|---|---|
| Total | 234 |
| Cannaregio | 52 |
| Castello | 58 |
| Santa Croce | 21 |
| San Marco | 48 |
| San Polo | 23 |
| Dorsoduro | 29 |
| Giudecca | 3 |
| Number of Wells on Outer Islands of the lagoon | |
| Total | 26 |
| Burano | 2 |
| Chioggia | 2 |
| Lido | 4 |
| Murano | 6 |
| Pellestrina | 6 |
| Torcello | 6 |
History
As a collection of islands surrounded by a salt-water lagoon, Venice lacks natural sources of freshwater. As a result, Venice had to find alternative ways to obtain freshwater for the city. The oldest known Venetian wells were constructed in the eleventh century [2] , and were spread out across the Venetian landscape at first. In the 13th-15th centuries, the city of Venice built wells in every campo and corte to make water as accessible as possible.
The water in the public cisterns was free for anyone to use, and proximity to water was a great signifier of power in Venetian society. Wealthy citizens would commission guilds to build private wells to separate themselves from the rest of the population or display their opulence. here were also many private wellheads located in religious buildings. Priests and other leaders closely and strictly supervised the use of wellheads, allowing limited accessibility to the wells a couple of times per day (Venetian Wells, n.d.).
Venetians depended heavily on this system for their fresh water supply until 1884, when a modern water supply system was established [3]
Function
A typical Venetian well has a clay basin that stores rainwater underground and a wellhead to retrieve the water from above ground. Rainwater collects through street-level drains, filters through fine river sand, and then accumulates at the bottom of the basin. The water is filtered again as it travels through the brick lining the well shaft. Then, citizens could retrieve water through the street-level wellhead.
Map
The location of the wells, along with its wellheads, are designated by red dots on the map.