Why does Venice have canals?

The City of Venice Italy was build on many small islands in the Arciatic Sea.  The canals that separate the islands are the streets of the city.  Perhaps there is no other city like Venice.  In Venice that streets are canals filled with water. 

City of Venice

Venice is an old and beautiful Italian city built on the sea.  The city stands on a cluster of small islands.  In between the islands are strips of the sea, and these are the famous canals of Venice. 

The biggest canal, called the Grand Canal, winds through the center of the city.  The buildings which line the canals are built on piles, or posts, sunk deep in the mud. 

Motor launches and graceful Venetian boats called gondolas carry people along the many canals.  When not in use, the boats are moored to posts that resemble big peppermint sticks.

At one time, Venice was a rich trading port.  Now, much trade goes to other ports.   But Venice is still famous as a historic center of art and architecture, and for its canals and gondolas.  – Dick Rogers

Why does the leaning Tower of Pisa lean?

The tower leans because it is slowly sinking in the soft ground.  The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a famous bell tower at Pisa, Italy.  The tower tips so far to one side that it looks as though it would fall over.  But it has been leaning for over 600 years!

Tower of Pisa

Why does it lean?  Of course, it wasn’t supposed to lean when it was built.  Yet it began to lean long before it was finished.

Builders began to work on the tower in 1174.  The stone foundation was not built on time enough ground to support the heavy marble tower and it began to sink unevenly into the soft soil.

But the builders went on adding story after story until the tower was 180 feet tall.  Since it was finished it has leaned a little more as the years went by.

Even today little by little the tower continues to tilt more each year.  It is now leans over 17 feet to one side.  Some people estimated that the tower will topple over within the next 100 years. – Dick Rogers