Cristoforo Sabbadino

Cristoforo Sabbadino (* 1489 in Chioggia ; † March 3, 1560 in Venice ), also known as “il Moretto”, was the first advisor to the Republic of Venice on issues relating to the safety of the lagoon . In addition, he was Proto , the first technician of the Magistrato alle Acque , the office responsible for the waterways. He was responsible for hydrological issues, particularly when it came to diverting the rivers that flowed into the lagoon. With his Trattato della acque he left a hydrological analysis of the waters around Venice.

Sabbadinos plan of 1557 in which he marked those fondamenta that were to be expanded or newly created.

By 1531 Sabbadino had earned a good reputation, in 1542 he was elected to his office with the title ingegnero . From the beginning he was aware of the value of the lagoon for Venice.

With Alvise Cornaro he got into a dispute about his project, the Piano di sviluppo e di sistemazione idraulica di Venezia . It should serve as a template for the reconstruction of the lagoon. This plan was intended as a response to Cornaro's proposals to divert the Brenta directly into the Adriatic in order to prevent the lagoon from silting up. Sabbadino agreed, but he resisted the closure of the lagoon. He realized that the main problem would be the deepening of the lagoon and canals. He therefore suggested using the material obtained during the expansion of Venice - he had in mind an expansion of the city south of the Giudecca , i.e. between San Francesco della Vigna and San Giovanni e Paolo . The funds necessary for this were to be brought in again by the fact that the new land was sold.

Alvise Cornaro, on the other hand, proposed a wall ring in 1560; he envisioned an expansion of the city towards the mainland. With this he turned against the widespread view that Venice must remain a city without a city wall, the protective wall of which is the lagoon. On the contrary, he made more far-reaching proposals to turn the city away from the water and towards the land.

literature

Pietro Lucchesi: Ragionamenti tenuti da Sabbadino, ingegnere dell'Ufficio delle acque, ed un filosofo intorno alla laguna di Venezia ed ai fiumi che fluivano in essa , Venice 1818.
Malvina Borgherini: La rappresentazione del paesaggio. Arte e politica in Toscana e nella Serenissima Repubblica Veneta tra XIV e XVI secolo. In: Frames. Frammenti di architettura e paesaggio. Padua 2006.

Remarks

^ Vettor Sandi: Principi di storia civile della Repubblica di Venezia dalla sua fondazione sino all'anno 1700. Volume 5, Venice 1756, p. 81.
↑ Pietro Lucchesi: Prospetto di verità dei fatti che per autentici documenti provano i danni recati alla laguna e porte di Venezia dalla acque dolci ... , Venice 1816, p. 127f.
↑ Ateneo Veneto 2 (1838), p. 53.

personal data
SURNAME	Sabbadino, Cristoforo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	il Moretto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hydraulic engineers in the Republic of Venice
DATE OF BIRTH	1489
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chioggia
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 1560
Place of death	Venice

[1] Vettor Sandi: Principi di storia civile della Repubblica di Venezia dalla sua fondazione sino all'anno 1700. Volume 5, Venice 1756, p. 81.

[2] Pietro Lucchesi: Prospetto di verità dei fatti che per autentici documenti provano i danni recati alla laguna e porte di Venezia dalla acque dolci ... , Venice 1816, p. 127f.

[3] Ateneo Veneto 2 (1838), p. 53.