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(bells ringing).
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NARRATOR: A city
state like no other,
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feared the world over.
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JAMES: A rich,
powerful republic,
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making vast amounts of money,
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protected by a massive fleet of
the world's fastest war ships.
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NARRATOR: Venice would be
nothing without its ships,
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but their secrets have
been lost for centuries.
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What can three discoveries
reveal about how Venice
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becomes a
renaissance superpower?
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JON: This could give us a
clue into how the Venetians
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ruled for almost 500 years.
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NARRATOR: And why it
finally falls into ruin.
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GIOVANNI: There have been
extended excavations and they
found thousands of bodies.
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JON: In a very real sense,
the history of Venice lies
underwater.
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We just have to find it.
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NARRATOR: A city
of high culture,
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magnificent architecture,
stunning natural beauty,
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made possible by a past
steeped in conquest.
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JON At its height,
700 years ago,
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Venice controlled an
area spanning 1,000 miles,
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and its influence stretched
across three continents.
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It was a maritime empire
of unequalled power,
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and the wealthiest
city in Western Europe.
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JAMES: The key to
Venice is its watercraft,
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and while many people know
of the famous gondolas,
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the true Venetian
vessel is the galley.
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These ships dominate the
Mediterranean for centuries,
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and are key to Venice
becoming a naval power,
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an economic power and
a political power.
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NARRATOR: And the seed of
this power is the Arsenale,
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once the biggest industrial
facility in the west.
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Hidden behind high walls,
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thousands worked to
build the best warships
the world has ever seen.
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PETER: But the master
ship builders kept their
designs to themselves,
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handing them down
from father to son,
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by word of mouth only.
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So we have no blueprints
or plans for any galleys,
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and we've never been able
to find any evidence of one.
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STEFANDO: Any archaeologist
dreams of discovering a
Venetian medieval galley.
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I've been living and working
in Venice for 25 years.
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It's a place that never
ceases to amaze me.
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NARRATOR: For
his entire career,
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maritime archaeologist,
Stefano Medas,
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has been searching for evidence
of Venice's naval power.
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He's focused his search in
the waters of the lagoon that
surrounds the city.
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JAMES: The difficulty in
excavating Venice's past
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is that it sits in a lagoon
200 square miles in size,
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and that's three times
the area of Washington DC.
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JON: Trying to find a ship
in these waters is like looking
for a needle in a haystack.
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Actually, it's worse than that,
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it's like looking for a needle
in a haystack underwater with
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a bucket over your head.
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JAMES The city
sits on 118 small islands
connected by bridges and canals.
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From above, it
looks beautiful,
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but drain the canals
and then the lagoon,
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and you start to understand
why nobody, after 700 years,
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has been able to find any
shipwrecks of any significance.
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Today, over 80% of the
lagoon is thick mud,
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just about 11% is water.
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So even if you were lucky
enough to find anything,
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it would most likely be
trapped under the mud,
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and to dredge the lagoon
would take 1,000 years.
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NARRATOR:
Despite the challenges,
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Stefano is convinced his
quest for evidence of an
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ancient warship
is worth continuing.
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STEFANDO: We know from
historical sources, old maps,
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that something
important was there.
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NARRATOR: In 1997,
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a team of divers makes
a tantalizing discovery.
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A piece of wood.
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JON It might not sound much
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but for archaeologists
it's a breakthrough.
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A piece of wood
could mean a ship.
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STEFANDO: It was an
extraordinary discovery
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that could give us
a lot of information.
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When you're lucky enough
to find a piece of wood,
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the first thing to do is to
try and find out how old it is,
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so it's sent to the lab
for radio carbon analysis.
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It was amazing because
we found out that it was
from the 14th Century.
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JAMES: Wood from
the 14th Century,
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for Stefano and the team it's
like finding the holy grail.
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This is from the time when
Venice is at the peak of its
naval and economic power.
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You couldn't have found a
piece from a better period.
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JON: So now Stefano knows
there's something worth finding
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in the mud of the lagoon.
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NARRATOR: In 2001,
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Stefano and his
team begin their search
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in the area where
the 14th Century piece
of wood was discovered.
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JAMES: But the problem is,
that you're in very muddy water
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where you can see nothing the
moment you stir the mud up.
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NARRATOR: When
they do find something,
it's something big.
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¶ ¶
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STEFANDO: We started
seeing this gigantic
hull in perfect condition.
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It was very emotional for the
whole team of archaeologists.
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NARRATOR: To find out if
this structure they found
could be a long-lost galley,
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Stefano turns to the
one man who can help him,
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Venetian historian and
ship expert, Mauro Bondioli.
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MAURO: They called me
because I was the only person
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in the world with the
knowledge to study and identify
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this particular type of wreck.
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When Stefano called,
I immediately said okay,
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I'll drop everything
and tomorrow morning I
will be at the lagoon.
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I had thought all night
about how to identify a galley
from other types of ships.
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I calculated the
length and I said okay,
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in this particular point,
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we should be able
to find a structure
typically found in galleys,
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which is the mast step.
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JAMES: A mast step is a notch
cut into the backbone of a ship,
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deep down in its hold.
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That's a key
piece of evidence,
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but good luck trying
to find that along the
entire length of a ship
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buried in the mud when
you're doing it by feel.
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NARRATOR: Armed with
this potential lead,
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the team returns to
the submerged wreck.
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MAURO: It was a very long
operation because they had to
dig through all that mud.
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I waited at least three
hours for an answer.
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Finally, an archaeologist
came to the surface and said,
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"We've located the structure
made this way and that way,"
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and I told them,
"You've found a galley."
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STEFANDO: It was obviously
extraordinary and exciting
because we were certain
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it was the first wreck
of a galley ever found in
the Mediterranean and beyond.
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JON: So it's a very,
very important find,
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and what you
want to do is record every
single part of that wreck,
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inch by inch,
do a forensic study of it.
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The problem is, this wreck
is completely covered in mud,
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you can't even see your hand in
front of your face under water.
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NARRATOR:
How will they excavate
this medieval fighting galley
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from the Venice lagoon?
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JON: They're really
gonna have to come up with
a pretty unique solution.
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NARRATOR: Setfano Medas
and his team believe the
14th Century galley they found
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in the Venice
lagoon is so important it
needs to be fully excavated.
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JAMES: So they come up
with this crazy idea.
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Why don't we just
drain the water away.
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And the government agrees.
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Even though this is gonna
cost a million dollars.
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NARRATOR: The strategy
create a cofferdam,
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a watertight enclosure
they can pump dry.
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To build it, engineers sink
36 foot long steel girders
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vertically into the
muddy floor of the lagoon,
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300 of them.
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JAMES: They have to fit
everything together,
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girder by girder, perfectly.
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The slightest gap, even
a fraction of an inch,
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can lead this thing to fail and
the water can't be drained.
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JAMES:
Now comes the real test.
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It's getting the
water out of there.
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You have to take huge pumps,
and they use five of them,
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to remove millions of gallons,
and they work around the clock.
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STEFANDO: While
lowering the water,
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we spend days anxiously
watching because the water
level was dropping so slowly.
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JAMES: It takes two
weeks to build the wall,
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and it takes a full week
to get that cofferdam dry.
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NARRATOR: What begins
to emerge is the outline
of a sleek, narrow hull.
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But to examine it in detail,
they have to move fast.
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JON: There's a problem with
draining the water away
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because it's the water
and mud that protected
the site in the first place,
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and the moment you remove it,
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it instantly starts to decay,
and actually that can be quite
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a quick process, particularly
when you expose timbers to the
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air for the first time.
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JON:
So the important thing
was to keep it wet,
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but also to cover it
with a protected canvas,
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and they did that each time they
were excavating the timbers.
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PETER: The excavators worked
painstakingly for three months,
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little by little
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exposing the vessel's
unique hydrodynamic shape.
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Finally,
the 700 year old galley,
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the pride of the
Venetian fighting fleet,
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and the only one
in existence today,
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is visible in all its glory.
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STEFANDO: It was amazing to
see the beauty of the hull,
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the internal frames
and the benches,
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seeing it from
the stern to the bow,
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with its sharp lines.
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It was really emotional
because it was like going back
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for one moment into a
14th Century boat yard.
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NARRATOR: The team
takes measurements.
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The hull is 120 feet
long and just 15 feet wide.
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For the first time,
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they could confirm the
number and position of
oarsmen powering the vessel.
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JAMES: Now, using all the
new data from the excavation,
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we can bring this lost
Venetian galley to life.
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When you see this
extraordinary design
slicing through the water,
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you really get
a sense of how these warships
made Venice a naval superpower.
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The engine of this machine?
Muscle power.
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00:14:09,482 --> 00:14:12,383
140 oarsmen rowing together.
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More rowers equals more power.
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00:14:20,026 --> 00:14:22,961
Uniquely, they set
three abreasted places,
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00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:25,663
propelling the hydrodynamic
hull through the water
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00:14:25,699 --> 00:14:27,866
at an astonishing
six miles an hour,
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00:14:29,436 --> 00:14:32,904
making this the fastest
ship on the seas at the time.
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00:14:36,142 --> 00:14:38,076
And because of this
speed and power,
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00:14:38,111 --> 00:14:40,378
a galley could outmaneuver
its slower opponents.
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00:14:41,581 --> 00:14:43,147
That's naval superiority.
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00:14:48,705 --> 00:14:50,655
MAURO: When a
fleet of galleys appeared
197
00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:54,592
with so many oars
rowing with an incredible,
harmonious rhythm,
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00:14:55,862 --> 00:14:57,328
like the wings of a bird,
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00:14:59,733 --> 00:15:01,466
it must've looked fantastic,
200
00:15:02,903 --> 00:15:06,537
really incredible for people
who had never seen things like
this before.
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NARRATOR: The crew can
even harness the power
of a 65 foot long sail
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00:15:15,315 --> 00:15:19,117
to carry them
effortlessly forward
when winds are favorable.
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00:15:22,455 --> 00:15:24,322
PETER: Before this
galley was excavated,
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00:15:24,357 --> 00:15:26,557
we had no idea how
they were made,
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00:15:26,593 --> 00:15:28,593
we had to guess at the
design of these vessels.
206
00:15:30,730 --> 00:15:34,432
Now we know,
from the design of the hull
to the power of the oarsmen,
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00:15:34,467 --> 00:15:37,368
these ships were simply years
ahead of their time.
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00:15:38,338 --> 00:15:41,940
JON: They were very
maneuverable, sleek, fast,
war machines.
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00:15:47,881 --> 00:15:49,747
JAMES: When the
archaeologists are done,
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00:15:49,783 --> 00:15:51,582
they face two choices.
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00:15:51,918 --> 00:15:55,186
To raise, recover
and chemically treat
it to preserve it
212
00:15:55,221 --> 00:15:56,988
at a cost of millions,
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00:15:57,190 --> 00:15:59,958
or put it back in
its time capsule.
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00:16:02,228 --> 00:16:08,132
They let the water reclaim
the cofferdam and bury the
ship once again to preserve it.
215
00:16:10,904 --> 00:16:16,674
(bells tolling).
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00:16:19,212 --> 00:16:20,645
JAMES: 700 years ago,
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00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,181
ports across the Venetian
Empire would've been filled
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00:16:23,216 --> 00:16:26,651
with hundreds of
galleys like the one
lying in Venice lagoon today.
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00:16:30,156 --> 00:16:32,790
Guarding the coast,
protecting trade routes,
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00:16:32,826 --> 00:16:37,195
because trade is the beating
heart of the Venetian Republic.
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00:16:41,668 --> 00:16:45,036
MAURO: If you had visited
Venice 700 years ago,
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00:16:45,055 --> 00:16:47,772
you would've found one of the
richest markets in the world.
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00:16:49,542 --> 00:16:51,509
Any type of goods could
be found in Venice.
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00:16:54,414 --> 00:16:55,980
PETER: And making
this trade possible are
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00:16:56,016 --> 00:16:59,484
vast fleets of
Venetian merchant ships,
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00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:02,520
sailing to the far reaches of
the Mediterranean into Syria.
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00:17:04,891 --> 00:17:08,960
JAMES: Historical
documents hint that these
ships were loaded with riches,
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00:17:08,995 --> 00:17:11,629
filled to the brim with millions
of dollars worth of goods.
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00:17:13,867 --> 00:17:17,935
The problem is, there's not
many physical examples left in
the archaeological record.
230
00:17:20,974 --> 00:17:22,740
NARRATOR: So what
could a looted wreck,
231
00:17:22,776 --> 00:17:25,043
discovered off the
coast of Croatia,
232
00:17:25,078 --> 00:17:27,879
reveal about the wealth
of ancient Venice?
233
00:17:29,883 --> 00:17:32,216
IRENA: There was something
important but nobody knew
234
00:17:32,252 --> 00:17:35,219
what was actually hiding
on the seabed.
235
00:17:51,287 --> 00:17:54,188
IRENA: The second I saw
this wreck, I was hooked.
236
00:17:58,294 --> 00:18:00,795
Nothing prepared me for
its strange attraction.
237
00:18:04,634 --> 00:18:07,635
NARRATOR: For nine
years, Irena Radic Rossi,
238
00:18:07,670 --> 00:18:10,571
has been diving here,
off the coast of Croatia.
239
00:18:11,674 --> 00:18:14,008
The reason lies 80 feet below,
240
00:18:14,277 --> 00:18:16,844
a shipwreck first
discovered and picked over
241
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,179
decades ago.
242
00:18:22,018 --> 00:18:26,788
IRENA: We know for sure that
in the early 60s a fisherman
found the shipwreck site.
243
00:18:28,792 --> 00:18:32,126
He kept the information
for himself for some time,
244
00:18:32,529 --> 00:18:38,099
and then somehow better divers
came across this find
245
00:18:38,134 --> 00:18:40,568
and started to loot it.
246
00:18:44,340 --> 00:18:47,442
JAMES Back then,
Croatia is part of communist
Yugoslavia,
247
00:18:47,477 --> 00:18:50,344
and so when they hear about
this find and the looting,
248
00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:52,713
the government send out
a team to take a look.
249
00:18:59,422 --> 00:19:01,522
NARRATOR: Although the
wreck has been looted,
250
00:19:01,558 --> 00:19:04,892
the government team still
finds some important artifacts.
251
00:19:08,398 --> 00:19:12,900
JAMES: Among the most exciting
things they found are objects
that have a date on them.
252
00:19:15,805 --> 00:19:20,041
JON: Two cannon were
brought up marked with
the initials Z and A,
253
00:19:22,078 --> 00:19:25,146
and these initials stand
for Zuanne Alberghetti,
254
00:19:25,181 --> 00:19:30,852
and Zuanne Alberghetti was
actually a very famous bronze
gun maker based in Venice,
255
00:19:30,887 --> 00:19:32,453
and that makes us
think instantly there's a
256
00:19:32,489 --> 00:19:34,555
connection between
this ship and Venice.
257
00:19:37,393 --> 00:19:40,761
But even more incredibly
there's a date inscribed on the
258
00:19:40,797 --> 00:19:44,966
cannons in Roman numerals,
and that date is 1582.
259
00:19:49,272 --> 00:19:54,609
And that's a time when Venice
has established a place as
the number one trading city.
260
00:19:54,644 --> 00:19:57,979
The place where anything and
everything is bought and sold,
261
00:19:58,248 --> 00:20:00,815
all at a great profit for the
merchants and government.
262
00:20:06,523 --> 00:20:11,092
And so if that ship
is from around this
crucial period of the 1580s,
263
00:20:11,127 --> 00:20:14,495
the question is,
what else can the ship tell us?
264
00:20:18,167 --> 00:20:22,904
IRENA: The guns were an
important clue for discovering
the story of the shipwreck,
265
00:20:22,939 --> 00:20:25,840
but of course they
didn't tell everything.
266
00:20:29,612 --> 00:20:31,546
NARRATOR: Starting in 2012,
267
00:20:31,581 --> 00:20:34,615
Irena and her team begin
charting the size and scale
268
00:20:34,651 --> 00:20:36,050
of the plundered wreck
269
00:20:36,553 --> 00:20:39,053
to see if they can figure
out what the ship was and
270
00:20:39,088 --> 00:20:40,721
how it ended up here.
271
00:20:41,691 --> 00:20:46,260
IRENA: So I will
be working in V18,
272
00:20:46,296 --> 00:20:48,563
so that's the plan for today.
273
00:20:49,332 --> 00:20:50,498
Okay, let's go.
274
00:20:55,238 --> 00:20:58,072
NARRATOR:
But with every dive,
they face danger.
275
00:20:59,909 --> 00:21:03,010
IRENA: It is forbidden to
dive without the gloves on
276
00:21:03,046 --> 00:21:05,580
the site because it is
full of toxic material.
277
00:21:08,051 --> 00:21:12,053
There was elementary mercury,
we have lead carbonate.
278
00:21:17,894 --> 00:21:20,127
JON: Mercury and
lead were used back in the 1500s
279
00:21:20,163 --> 00:21:22,697
for decorating furniture and
its pigments for painting.
280
00:21:29,973 --> 00:21:33,541
If the divers touched the
liquid mercury
underwater with bare skin,
281
00:21:33,576 --> 00:21:34,909
it would cause burns.
282
00:21:40,550 --> 00:21:43,584
Above the surface,
it can vaporize and if inhaled,
283
00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,287
can lead to brain damage,
even death.
284
00:21:51,894 --> 00:21:54,629
Lead poisoning can damage
the kidneys and nervous system.
285
00:21:59,702 --> 00:22:01,335
IRENA: When they
come out of the water,
286
00:22:01,371 --> 00:22:05,339
they become dangerous,
so we have to be very careful.
287
00:22:08,111 --> 00:22:09,410
JAMES: When you study a wreck,
288
00:22:09,445 --> 00:22:11,579
you need to
carefully measure it,
289
00:22:11,614 --> 00:22:16,083
so we lay out metal
grids that allow us to map
everything in its place.
290
00:22:19,689 --> 00:22:22,823
It's a very meticulous science,
291
00:22:22,859 --> 00:22:24,125
it's CSI underwater.
292
00:22:26,996 --> 00:22:30,398
NARRATOR: After hundreds
of dives over several years,
293
00:22:30,433 --> 00:22:33,801
Irena collects enough data
to map the wreck's structure.
294
00:22:35,738 --> 00:22:38,339
Putting it all together
begins to reveal what sort of
295
00:22:38,374 --> 00:22:39,774
ship it is.
296
00:22:49,552 --> 00:22:51,385
JAMES: If we were
to drain the water away,
297
00:22:51,421 --> 00:22:53,854
what you would see if
that this truly is,
298
00:22:53,890 --> 00:22:55,523
not only a large ship,
299
00:22:57,593 --> 00:22:59,860
but you'd get a sense
of the scale of the hold.
300
00:23:02,632 --> 00:23:05,032
It could carry up to
800 tons of cargo.
301
00:23:06,803 --> 00:23:09,203
Now today that's about
5,000 barrels of oil,
302
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:16,177
so we're talking about the
16th Century equivalent of a
modern containership.
303
00:23:20,750 --> 00:23:24,285
NARRATOR: Although much of
the cargo has been looted,
some remains.
304
00:23:24,954 --> 00:23:28,989
What was this ship carrying
and what can that reveal
about its mission?
305
00:23:32,695 --> 00:23:35,696
JON: Finding a historic wreck
with that much cargo on it,
306
00:23:35,732 --> 00:23:37,965
that many riches,
is actually very, very rare.
307
00:23:49,061 --> 00:23:52,663
NARRATOR: Irena Radic Rossi and
her dive team hope the cargo of
308
00:23:52,698 --> 00:23:55,366
a 16th Century Venetian ship
309
00:23:55,401 --> 00:24:00,404
will allow them to
unlock its mysteries.
310
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,574
JON: The hope is
that we can find out
where the ship was going,
311
00:24:03,609 --> 00:24:05,376
and crucially,
put a name to it.
312
00:24:08,781 --> 00:24:10,948
NARRATOR: And a major
clue lies in pieces over
313
00:24:10,983 --> 00:24:12,516
the sea floor.
314
00:24:13,586 --> 00:24:16,921
JAMES: The most
extraordinary thing they
found were window panes,
315
00:24:17,356 --> 00:24:20,858
hundreds of them, and they're
still bringing them up today.
316
00:24:22,862 --> 00:24:24,562
IRENA: It was great.
317
00:24:24,797 --> 00:24:27,531
Tomas collected some
glass down there,
318
00:24:27,567 --> 00:24:30,701
and we will see
now what is inside.
319
00:24:33,506 --> 00:24:39,009
There is a lot of this glass
lying everywhere in the surface
layer of the site.
320
00:24:41,814 --> 00:24:45,182
When it was baked, it was
completely transparent,
321
00:24:45,418 --> 00:24:50,988
and now, after four centuries
of lying down on the seabed,
322
00:24:51,023 --> 00:24:53,491
the window pane's degraded.
323
00:24:54,494 --> 00:24:59,697
So this was beautiful glass
that was used in nice buildings.
324
00:25:01,567 --> 00:25:04,969
In the 16th Century, it
was quite a luxury product.
325
00:25:06,439 --> 00:25:10,741
(bells ringing).
326
00:25:14,146 --> 00:25:16,447
NARRATOR: To put a
name on the wreck,
327
00:25:16,482 --> 00:25:19,650
Irena and her team contact
the one man who might be able
328
00:25:19,685 --> 00:25:24,088
to figure it out,
Mauro Bondioli.
329
00:25:26,626 --> 00:25:29,260
MAURO: And so she asked me
to start archive research,
330
00:25:30,596 --> 00:25:33,130
not just to
identify the wreck,
331
00:25:33,666 --> 00:25:35,733
but the reconstruct
its whole history.
332
00:25:41,707 --> 00:25:44,441
NARRATOR: Mauro gets
two solid leads,
333
00:25:44,644 --> 00:25:49,647
the age of the ship's
guns and a list of the
artifacts recovered so far.
334
00:25:51,617 --> 00:25:54,184
Then, he goes looking for more.
335
00:25:56,088 --> 00:26:00,724
JAMES: The Venetian
state archives is an
incredible trove of documents,
336
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,896
state papers, correspondence,
cargo lists for ships.
337
00:26:06,966 --> 00:26:12,036
It's so vast that
it has 50 miles of
shelves and over 300 rooms.
338
00:26:14,941 --> 00:26:18,742
Often times researchers go
there and they will realize
339
00:26:18,778 --> 00:26:23,981
they are the first to touch
a piece of paper since it was
deposited in the archives
340
00:26:24,016 --> 00:26:25,382
hundreds of years ago.
341
00:26:29,055 --> 00:26:35,459
IRENA: Then, Mauro
discovers a document
about 5,000 window panes,
342
00:26:35,895 --> 00:26:40,764
so we immediately thought that
it must have been our ship.
343
00:26:45,037 --> 00:26:46,470
NARRATOR:
According to the records,
344
00:26:46,505 --> 00:26:51,041
in 1583 a ship leaves Venice
loaded with chandeliers,
345
00:26:51,077 --> 00:26:54,478
silk and 5,000 window panes.
346
00:26:55,014 --> 00:26:57,381
Its name,
the Gagliana Grossa.
347
00:27:02,288 --> 00:27:06,523
MAURO: I discovered that this
was a ship that set out from
Venice and was
348
00:27:06,559 --> 00:27:08,425
destined for Constantinople.
349
00:27:10,763 --> 00:27:12,296
JON: But that makes no sense.
350
00:27:12,331 --> 00:27:16,934
Constantinople is the center
of Venice's mortal enemy,
the Ottomans.
351
00:27:17,536 --> 00:27:20,237
Why are they sailing directly
into their enemy's backyard?
352
00:27:21,974 --> 00:27:25,376
JON: But the story gets even
stranger when it's found
out who the cargo's meant for.
353
00:27:25,811 --> 00:27:27,978
It goes right to the top
of the Ottoman Empire.
354
00:27:31,684 --> 00:27:33,851
MAURO: One of the
most interesting
things about this wreck
355
00:27:35,454 --> 00:27:37,688
is that this document
research has confirmed
356
00:27:37,723 --> 00:27:40,758
that the cargo was going
directly to the Sultan.
357
00:27:43,279 --> 00:27:45,829
JAMES: The archives
revealed that Sultan,
Murad the Third,
358
00:27:45,865 --> 00:27:48,399
is not your typical
warrior king.
359
00:27:49,568 --> 00:27:51,769
He loves the
finer things in life.
360
00:27:52,438 --> 00:27:54,505
He has a big,
beautiful palace.
361
00:27:55,775 --> 00:27:59,410
He also loves women,
lots of women.
362
00:28:01,447 --> 00:28:05,482
Murad keeps his 50
wives in the harem,
363
00:28:05,518 --> 00:28:09,620
a beautiful building decorated
with many glass windows.
364
00:28:14,226 --> 00:28:16,760
We know that in 1583,
365
00:28:16,796 --> 00:28:20,564
the Sultan faces a
terrible disaster.
366
00:28:21,734 --> 00:28:25,569
A fire burns down
his most precious
room in the palace.
367
00:28:27,773 --> 00:28:29,173
The harem.
368
00:28:30,242 --> 00:28:33,410
IRENA: The Sultan was
very upset about it,
369
00:28:33,446 --> 00:28:36,213
so he wanted to reconstruct
it as soon as possible.
370
00:28:38,184 --> 00:28:42,586
He gave the orders
to purchase the material
for the reconstruction
371
00:28:42,621 --> 00:28:46,323
and ordered 5,000 window panes,
372
00:28:46,826 --> 00:28:50,861
and the Senate of Venice decided
to load them on Gagliana.
373
00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:57,301
JAMES: Venetian merchants
would sell to anyone,
374
00:28:57,336 --> 00:29:03,373
even their enemies, and the
government would likely turn a
blind eye to that.
375
00:29:05,678 --> 00:29:10,180
The trade with the Ottomans
was filling the coffers,
376
00:29:10,416 --> 00:29:14,818
so if this means trading
with the enemy, why not?
377
00:29:16,288 --> 00:29:18,856
JON: But the Sultan never
got his consignment of glass.
378
00:29:21,327 --> 00:29:23,460
NARRATOR: A fraction of
the way into its journey,
379
00:29:23,496 --> 00:29:25,729
the Gagliana Grossa sinks,
380
00:29:25,765 --> 00:29:28,799
making it the
richest renaissance
wreck in the Mediterranean.
381
00:29:30,836 --> 00:29:33,537
JON: You have to wonder
how such a state of the
art merchant ship
382
00:29:33,572 --> 00:29:35,139
ended up at the
bottom of the ocean.
383
00:29:46,635 --> 00:29:48,235
NARRATOR: To find out what
could've caused the
384
00:29:48,270 --> 00:29:50,771
Gagliana Grossa
cargo ship to sink,
385
00:29:51,173 --> 00:29:54,041
the team turns to
clues within the archives.
386
00:29:56,112 --> 00:30:00,848
JAMES: The Venetian archives
tell us that the Gagliana sails
387
00:30:00,883 --> 00:30:03,884
from Venice in
late October, 1583.
388
00:30:04,787 --> 00:30:06,487
That's late in the season,
389
00:30:06,522 --> 00:30:09,490
and the ban on sailing in
the winter is about to start.
390
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,227
JAMES: There is
a good reason for that ban.
391
00:30:16,765 --> 00:30:19,133
JON: The Adriatic's a dangerous
sea at the best of times.
392
00:30:19,768 --> 00:30:23,403
It acts like a big funnel
and it channels storms
up and along its length,
393
00:30:23,439 --> 00:30:24,805
coming in from the mountains,
394
00:30:26,275 --> 00:30:27,407
and it makes it treacherous,
395
00:30:27,443 --> 00:30:29,209
particularly if you're
pushing it into the stormier
396
00:30:29,245 --> 00:30:30,477
part of the season.
397
00:30:32,648 --> 00:30:35,282
JAMES: What happened?
398
00:30:35,317 --> 00:30:38,418
Perhaps it took a
while to finish the glass
399
00:30:38,454 --> 00:30:40,954
and then to load that precious
cargo into the ship.
400
00:30:41,924 --> 00:30:45,192
If that's the case, it
would be a fatal delay.
401
00:30:48,030 --> 00:30:49,796
NARRATOR: The Gagliana's
course would've taken it
402
00:30:49,832 --> 00:30:53,233
right through an area
nicknamed Little Ocean,
403
00:30:54,270 --> 00:30:56,270
renowned for its storms.
404
00:30:58,707 --> 00:31:03,977
JAMES: What probably happened
is that a squall storm strikes,
405
00:31:04,613 --> 00:31:09,416
and Gagliana Grossa, overloaded
with all that heavy glass,
406
00:31:09,451 --> 00:31:11,051
begins to list,
407
00:31:11,954 --> 00:31:16,757
takes on water and then
falls to the bottom of the sea,
408
00:31:19,161 --> 00:31:21,361
taking the Sultan's
precious cargo with her.
409
00:31:31,273 --> 00:31:33,607
JON: The fate of the
Gagliana tells a bigger story
410
00:31:33,642 --> 00:31:36,677
and it's really about the demise
of Venice as a trading power.
411
00:31:40,216 --> 00:31:44,251
NARRATOR: The Gagliana
sinks at a critical time of
change in the Mediterranean.
412
00:31:47,489 --> 00:31:49,723
JON: By the 1580s,
you've got the English,
413
00:31:49,758 --> 00:31:52,726
you've got the Spanish
building much bigger ships
414
00:31:52,761 --> 00:31:56,463
which could survive brutal
voyages across the Atlantic,
415
00:31:56,498 --> 00:32:01,535
and they begin to take on the
trading role that Venice was
once so famous for.
416
00:32:03,739 --> 00:32:05,405
JON: Venice is
teetering on the brink,
417
00:32:05,441 --> 00:32:07,641
her enemies are expanding
into her territory.
418
00:32:09,845 --> 00:32:13,180
(bells ringing).
419
00:32:13,215 --> 00:32:16,083
JAMES:
But the Venetian civilization
is brought to its knees,
420
00:32:17,019 --> 00:32:21,555
not by guns and swords but
from an invisible silent enemy
421
00:32:21,590 --> 00:32:23,991
that Venice has no
defense against.
422
00:32:27,997 --> 00:32:33,233
This new deadly force plunges
Venetians into a war they
have no chance of winning.
423
00:32:39,575 --> 00:32:40,774
GIOVANNI: For most people,
424
00:32:40,809 --> 00:32:44,578
Venice begins and ends with the
city and its famous landmarks.
425
00:32:47,449 --> 00:32:52,452
But, to really know Venice,
you have to look in the less
glamorous places.
426
00:32:55,057 --> 00:32:57,658
NARRATOR: Venetian historian,
Giovanni Caniato,
427
00:32:57,693 --> 00:33:00,727
has spent years piecing
together the lives of Venetians
428
00:33:00,763 --> 00:33:03,397
during the last
decades of the Republic.
429
00:33:09,038 --> 00:33:12,873
GIOVANNI: No one has
paid much attention to
the island we're headed to
430
00:33:12,908 --> 00:33:14,041
until recently.
431
00:33:16,011 --> 00:33:19,913
But I've discovered it
hides a disturbing secret.
432
00:33:32,361 --> 00:33:37,564
GIOVANNI:
Walking around this island,
I discovered a huge building
433
00:33:37,599 --> 00:33:40,901
with hundreds and
hundreds of inscriptions,
434
00:33:40,936 --> 00:33:44,971
drawing traced on the
plaster inside the building.
435
00:33:47,443 --> 00:33:49,876
Incredible. Incredible.
Fascinating.
436
00:33:50,212 --> 00:33:52,512
And the more I looked,
the more I found.
437
00:33:54,550 --> 00:33:59,286
I wanted to know who
wrote these inscriptions,
438
00:33:59,321 --> 00:34:03,123
why they did it and this
curiosity made me crazy
439
00:34:03,158 --> 00:34:07,494
and I start looking for
documents to understand why
certain names
440
00:34:07,529 --> 00:34:09,629
were traced on the walls.
441
00:34:15,337 --> 00:34:21,141
I had the impression that
most of these drawings were
strictly related with trade,
442
00:34:21,176 --> 00:34:24,478
with goods that were disembarked
in this place,
443
00:34:24,513 --> 00:34:30,083
and most of them were the
initials of a merchant.
444
00:34:33,122 --> 00:34:35,222
NARRATOR: Back at
the state archives,
445
00:34:35,257 --> 00:34:39,993
Giovanni discovers
that the mysterious
building dates back to 1562.
446
00:34:41,764 --> 00:34:44,598
JAMES: The archives tell us
that this is a warehouse
447
00:34:44,633 --> 00:34:48,168
under which merchants
store all the goods
that are coming by sea.
448
00:34:49,438 --> 00:34:54,074
But if that's the case then
you'd expect it to be built in
the center of the city
449
00:34:54,109 --> 00:34:55,409
or at the port entrance,
450
00:34:56,245 --> 00:35:00,046
not on some remote island
two miles from the city.
451
00:35:02,651 --> 00:35:05,051
NARRATOR: When a team of
archaeologists starts digging
452
00:35:05,087 --> 00:35:07,854
for artifacts in the
shadow of the building,
453
00:35:08,590 --> 00:35:10,290
the mystery only deepens.
454
00:35:13,028 --> 00:35:15,996
JON: They find skeletons,
bones, human remains.
455
00:35:17,399 --> 00:35:19,800
So far they've dug up
about 40 skeletons.
456
00:35:21,570 --> 00:35:24,871
It takes a long time to record
a human skeleton fully
457
00:35:24,907 --> 00:35:27,974
and it can actually be quite
an upsetting process,
458
00:35:28,010 --> 00:35:29,476
a disturbing process as well.
459
00:35:31,380 --> 00:35:36,483
It takes 14 excavators two
days to work on just one
skeleton and record it fully.
460
00:35:40,522 --> 00:35:44,090
One of the first things you
do with human bone is find out
what period it came from,
461
00:35:44,126 --> 00:35:47,794
and what's really interesting is
they all seem to date from the
same period as the building.
462
00:35:50,032 --> 00:35:53,133
That means these people died
when the building was in use.
463
00:35:56,538 --> 00:35:59,473
What was surprising was
they were finding that the
skeletons weren't whole,
464
00:35:59,508 --> 00:36:02,843
they'd been cut in half,
legs were removed,
465
00:36:04,713 --> 00:36:07,447
and this is quite a
macabre discovery.
466
00:36:10,652 --> 00:36:14,521
NARRATOR: To figure out
if the terrible mutilations
were the cause of death,
467
00:36:14,890 --> 00:36:17,390
the team carries out
a forensic examination.
468
00:36:19,595 --> 00:36:23,597
JAMES: Looking at the edges of
the bones where these bodies
have been cut in half,
469
00:36:23,765 --> 00:36:24,931
they find that they're brittle,
470
00:36:24,967 --> 00:36:27,200
they're fractured,
they're jagged.
471
00:36:28,170 --> 00:36:32,572
Bone dries out in the soil,
it loses collagen,
it becomes brittle,
472
00:36:33,175 --> 00:36:34,641
and all of these
bones have been
473
00:36:34,676 --> 00:36:38,178
fractured in a way that
showed that this had
happened long after death.
474
00:36:40,816 --> 00:36:44,651
NARRATOR: There's only one
explanation for what they foun.
475
00:36:46,288 --> 00:36:51,324
The skeletons must
have been dug up and
then cut into pieces.
476
00:36:52,761 --> 00:36:54,861
JAMES: So the
question is then...
477
00:36:54,897 --> 00:36:58,532
Why did them up after
they've been buried?
478
00:37:12,130 --> 00:37:14,664
NARRATOR: Archaeologists
believe the 42 skeletons they
479
00:37:14,700 --> 00:37:17,701
found are just the
tip of the iceberg.
480
00:37:20,105 --> 00:37:22,572
JON: We don't know what lies
under the rest of the island,
481
00:37:22,608 --> 00:37:24,808
but the amount of
skeletons they found,
482
00:37:24,843 --> 00:37:27,877
they were probably looking
at thousands of skeletons
on the site,
483
00:37:30,148 --> 00:37:34,918
layer after layer,
essentially a killing field.
484
00:37:40,726 --> 00:37:47,063
¶ ¶
485
00:37:48,867 --> 00:37:51,001
NARRATOR: Historian,
Giovanni Caniato,
486
00:37:51,036 --> 00:37:54,237
believes clues as to what's
behind this mass grave
487
00:37:54,273 --> 00:37:58,008
and its brutal burial methods
lie in the history books.
488
00:38:01,647 --> 00:38:03,346
GIOVANNI:
From the 14th Century on,
489
00:38:03,382 --> 00:38:06,349
you begin to see
accounts of mass death,
490
00:38:06,985 --> 00:38:08,952
thousands are dying,
hundreds a day,
491
00:38:08,987 --> 00:38:11,755
and bodies are piling
up in the streets,
492
00:38:13,025 --> 00:38:17,127
and this fills the population
with fear, suspicion.
493
00:38:17,162 --> 00:38:18,928
What's causing this?
494
00:38:20,065 --> 00:38:22,932
And this is death
that spares no one,
495
00:38:22,968 --> 00:38:26,403
from the poorest to the
richest and the most powerful.
496
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:33,076
JON: The Venetians don't
know what the cause of these
terrible outbreaks actually are,
497
00:38:33,312 --> 00:38:34,611
But there is one clue.
498
00:38:34,630 --> 00:38:37,013
They begin to notice that the
ships that are coming in,
499
00:38:37,049 --> 00:38:41,184
that often the sailors
are getting ill a short time
after they dock at the port.
500
00:38:44,289 --> 00:38:47,023
JAMES: What we now know
is that this is the
age of the Black Death.
501
00:38:47,459 --> 00:38:51,961
The Bubonic Plague,
carried in fleas on rats,
502
00:38:52,798 --> 00:38:57,100
and as this plague
spreads throughout Europe
and kills so many,
503
00:38:57,569 --> 00:39:01,071
it will even hit a
place like Venice because
rats can be found in ships,
504
00:39:01,907 --> 00:39:07,844
and it's ironic that for all of
the power and the wealth that
comes to Venice
505
00:39:07,879 --> 00:39:13,283
in the hold of a ship,
now comes death,
unstoppable death.
506
00:39:21,927 --> 00:39:25,128
NARRATOR: Now, for Giovanni,
it all comes together.
507
00:39:25,764 --> 00:39:30,600
He realizes the merchant's
building is much more
than a simple warehouse.
508
00:39:30,902 --> 00:39:35,305
GIOVANNI: Venetians understood
that it was a good idea
509
00:39:35,340 --> 00:39:40,043
to have a place for
people who were suspected
to have the plague,
510
00:39:41,313 --> 00:39:44,714
and so they
created Lazzaretto Nuovo.
511
00:39:48,153 --> 00:39:51,254
NARRATOR: Historical records
and archaeological findings
512
00:39:51,289 --> 00:39:56,393
allow them to rebuild
the isolation
facility as it was in 1562,
513
00:39:56,962 --> 00:39:59,929
revealing the truth
about what happened here.
514
00:40:04,503 --> 00:40:06,336
PETER: This was an
island where all the ships
515
00:40:06,371 --> 00:40:10,206
coming into the lagoon
would wait for 40 days,
516
00:40:10,242 --> 00:40:13,076
quaranta in Italian,
or quarantine.
517
00:40:14,980 --> 00:40:19,682
GIOVANNI: This building marks
the height of a revolutionary
Venetian innovation.
518
00:40:20,452 --> 00:40:25,588
It was the world's
largest and most sophisticated
quarantine building
519
00:40:25,624 --> 00:40:27,290
of the 16th Century.
520
00:40:29,661 --> 00:40:31,227
JAMES: It's amazing
when you think about it.
521
00:40:31,263 --> 00:40:33,563
This is 400 years
before germ theory,
522
00:40:34,065 --> 00:40:38,234
but here they are figuring out
that you need to isolate people
523
00:40:38,270 --> 00:40:40,637
and move them away so
that they don't spread it.
524
00:40:41,339 --> 00:40:42,639
Sound familiar?
525
00:40:47,145 --> 00:40:49,546
NARRATOR: For Giovanni
and the team of excavators,
526
00:40:49,581 --> 00:40:51,948
the mass graves
begin to make sense.
527
00:40:53,685 --> 00:40:58,922
JAMES: So, what you
see is with an estimate
of over 500 a day dying,
528
00:40:58,957 --> 00:41:03,226
this quarantine island
now becomes the overflow
529
00:41:03,261 --> 00:41:06,396
for the dying and for the dead.
530
00:41:08,567 --> 00:41:12,802
GIOVANNI: Can you imagine to
live in this island with
thousands of other people,
531
00:41:12,838 --> 00:41:14,471
half of them dying?
532
00:41:15,874 --> 00:41:18,842
You couldn't move, you couldn't
go out from the building.
533
00:41:19,444 --> 00:41:21,911
Armed guards are
checking that you don't move,
534
00:41:21,947 --> 00:41:24,714
and if you try to run away
you are killed immediately.
535
00:41:26,051 --> 00:41:28,084
That was a terrible situation.
536
00:41:32,290 --> 00:41:34,524
NARRATOR: And the
team realizes even the
537
00:41:34,559 --> 00:41:37,627
desecration of the bones
serves a chilling purpose.
538
00:41:42,901 --> 00:41:45,235
JON: With hundreds of bodies
a day arriving on the island,
539
00:41:45,270 --> 00:41:47,837
there just wasn't enough
space to bury everyone,
540
00:41:50,075 --> 00:41:53,109
so they'd have to cut down
into the existing graves there,
541
00:41:53,144 --> 00:41:54,344
cutting through bodies,
542
00:41:54,379 --> 00:41:57,113
cutting through corpses to
create space for new bodies.
543
00:42:00,151 --> 00:42:02,919
I mean this is quite a
picture of hell really
544
00:42:02,954 --> 00:42:04,387
for the people that
were working there.
545
00:42:07,792 --> 00:42:13,429
JAMES: These inscriptions
on the wall take on
new meaning and poignancy.
546
00:42:14,432 --> 00:42:18,234
Whoever wrote these probably
didn't realize this would be the
547
00:42:18,270 --> 00:42:21,304
last thing they
would ever write and the
548
00:42:21,339 --> 00:42:24,274
last trace of them,
other than their bones.
549
00:42:33,451 --> 00:42:35,552
NARRATOR: But even
with the plague island,
550
00:42:35,587 --> 00:42:39,122
this unique city state is
brought slowly to its knees.
551
00:42:40,825 --> 00:42:42,959
JAMES: Nearly a third of
the population is gone,
552
00:42:42,994 --> 00:42:46,229
practically overnight, and
that includes key people.
553
00:42:47,032 --> 00:42:51,234
Shipwrights, soldiers,
sailors, merchants,
554
00:42:51,269 --> 00:42:53,903
all of the people that
made Venice great.
555
00:42:55,807 --> 00:42:59,108
Venice never recovers
her position.
556
00:43:02,681 --> 00:43:06,849
JON It goes to
show just how fragile even great
civilizations can be.
557
00:43:08,687 --> 00:43:11,387
Their warships allowed
them to dominate the seas,
558
00:43:11,423 --> 00:43:13,790
giving them control of
ports and trade routes.
559
00:43:15,827 --> 00:43:18,027
Their merchant vessels
sailed from port to port a
560
00:43:18,063 --> 00:43:20,029
massing fast fortunes,
561
00:43:20,065 --> 00:43:22,565
making connections
around the Mediterranean,
562
00:43:22,601 --> 00:43:24,801
all the way to Constantinople.
563
00:43:27,439 --> 00:43:31,307
JON: But it's actually
those contacts that ended up
bringing death to Venice.
564
00:43:31,343 --> 00:43:33,710
There was no defense
against the plague,
565
00:43:33,745 --> 00:43:37,046
all their
technology could do nothing
about this deadly disease.
566
00:43:39,184 --> 00:43:41,751
Essentially, Venice became
a victim of its own success.
567
00:43:43,622 --> 00:43:47,991
¶ ¶
568
00:43:48,026 --> 00:43:52,729
JAMES: But Venice
adapted, and the Venetians rode
out the Bubonic Plague.
569
00:43:56,201 --> 00:43:59,869
Today their city is one of
the most beautiful and most
visited in the world,
570
00:44:01,906 --> 00:44:05,041
and that speaks to the
power of the human spirit,
571
00:44:06,411 --> 00:44:08,911
that speaks to resilience,
572
00:44:08,947 --> 00:44:14,384
and that speaks to our ability
as humans to go through
something tough
573
00:44:14,419 --> 00:44:16,586
and come out
on the other side.
574
00:44:18,089 --> 00:44:20,623
¶ ¶
575
00:44:21,226 --> 00:44:22,358
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.