Venice makes no sense. I’m talking about centro storico, the historic center.
The place is walkable in theory. It is only a few kilometers end to end, but getting from point A to point B by foot might involve crossing 10 tiny canals. It’s a bit hard to see from the satellite image, so here’s a map to get a better idea of the situation:
The canals have bridges here and there, but there is no apparent logic to where they are. It’s impossible to see the next bridge because there are buildings in the way. Dead ends are common. Sometimes you can guess the right way by looking at where people are heading.
The place is full of narrow alleyways. These are sometimes the main arteries where pedestrians move. It feels that the place has just organically grown into existence.
A nice thing about the city center is the total absence of cars and roads. I did not have to wait at a single traffic light because there are none. Boats are not that intrusive either, and they are always out of the way in the water. And I’ve just got to love entrances like this:
Though I’m worried what will happen if the waterways flood. It sure is an interesting way to design a city. A whole new set of engineering challenges.
I’m glad places like these still exist on Earth.