San Marco in Bocca Lama

San Marco in Bocca Lama was an island in the central Venice lagoon close to the moth and the Canale di Volpego Campanella. Until the 16th century it was recorded in maps, then " destroyed " or only as "lost" island in the 19th century it was no longer listed. Since the 1960s, it is an important archaeological site for the late medieval history of the lagoon. Above all, we found a 38 m long and 5 m wide galley from the period around 1300.

History

As early as 960 a could of St. Mary have passed consecrated church on the island. There was also a monastery of canons regular of the Augustinian and a cemetery. In 1013 the church of S. Marco de Lama or de Bocca was Lama.

The flow of the river Brenta threatened the island before 1320, but was diverted as this river, and the water in 1327 compared to the Motte di Volpego, so not directly in front of San Marco in Bocca Lama flowed into the lagoon, the island appeared for some time again on. Then the abbot build a new guest house and other buildings, a permit, which is granted him the Grand Council on 28 July 1328. Already in 1347, however, the island had to leave the monks; it was released in 1348 as a cemetery for the victims of the plague. Although the beginning of the 1380er returned no later than the monks back, but they had to finally give up the beginning of the 15th century the island. 1442 was the pope transferred the pensions of the monastery to another church, the priesthood could be awarded only as a sinecure, as there was no Jewish community. At this time the church fell into disrepair already. The sinecure was last awarded in 1485.

Back in the 15th century reported Marcantonio Sabellico of ruins on the island in the 16th century it is hard to remember their location. Cristoforo Sabbadino (1489-1560) still knew their exact location.

Excavation of the church and monastery

1966 to 1969 an archaeological excavation was carried out under the direction of honor inspector of Archaeological Superintendence del Veneto Ernesto Canal. The dig site was located about 700 m northwest of the island Campana (ex Batteria Podo ), 2500 m south of the island Sant'Angelo della Polvere and about 1300 meters east of the moth di Volpego. The study area covered an area of approximately 1000 by 200 meters. Numerous bone findings were attributed to the plague victims in 1348.

For the construction of the foot marked "A " building bricks were used with the format 17 × 8.5 × 4.5, for " B" 21 × 10.5 × 4.5. Here, the latter structure has a length of 30 and a width of 20 m. Building "A " was built without mud and water safe piles, so that one must assume that the formation time of the ground was fixed yet. The second building of the underground was already soft, so here fuses had to be installed. In connection with the softening of the ground there was talk of impaludamento, ie stagnation. The area was in 1452 converted into a levee, but it was destroyed a few years later by the waves. Apparently there was in the second half of the 16th century, a last attempt to build a dam.

Fund a galley and a transport vessel

1996-1997 were the occasion of canals and of efforts to protect the local Barene conducted archaeological investigations again. Two ships from the period were discovered in 1300 that had been used in the late Middle Ages as boardings. This was combined with rescue experiments, which at that time - had been conducted - ultimately unsuccessful. While it is the one of the ships concerned to a flatboat, the other was a galley. This was excavated from this early phase for the first time a galley.

The area is however threatened by the strong currents of the widened and deepened channel between Malamocco Marghera and erosion. Moreover, there was acute danger by the aggressive fishing methods of the mussel fishermen. Therefore, the Magistrato all Acque secured - Consorzio Venezia Nuova off the area temporarily. Two ministries and a research institute involved in the excavation project, namely for cultural goods and activities for Infrastructure and Transport and the University of Venice. Added to this was the company IDRA snc.

The actual excavation took place from June to October 2001. At 42 days, six hours worked at depths from 1.30 to 2.50 m below sea level, depending on the tide height. For this purpose, the water was partially drained, with haste was taken not too long unprotected exposure to the air the wood. In view maximum depth of 60 cm, it was difficult even to take pictures, so it was decided, the references of the two ships to dry up gradually. It was an area of ​​about one hectare. Shortly before completion of the work a sketch of a galley was detected in the galley. On the incised sketch for a modern conditions at that time ship type is shown in which each bank three rowers sat, each led their own rowing. Also, the type of the rudder at the stern was unusual. From him it was assumed until then that he had been transferred from northern Europe until later, where he had been in use since about 1200. The older rudder is still about the plan of Venice by Jacopo de ' Barbari from the year 1500, probably because so a certain conservatism should be expressed.

The ship could be dated to the period between the late 13th and the mid 14th century. Its dimensions were 38 m long and up to 5 m wide. The second ship that was lifted, a Rascona, a common type of vessel for transport of bulk goods was 23.6 m long and 6 m wide. The side walls have been preserved to a height of about 80 cm.