The
magistrato alle acque
(
lit.
'
magistrate for the waters
'
) was a collective magistracy of the
Republic of Venice
, responsible for
water management
in the
Venetian Lagoon
. It comprised a series of boards of magistrates established in the early 16th century, and existed until the
Fall of the Republic of Venice
in 1797. Between 1907 and 2014, the body was revived by the Italian state, with responsibilities extending over the entire
Veneto
and the
Province of Mantua
.
Foundation and history in the Republic of Venice
[
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]
Situated in the
Venetian Lagoon
, water was vital to the city and state of
Venice
: the lagoon and its waterways were vital commercial arteries, but also provided the best defence for the city of Venice and guaranteed its independence.
In the
Middle Ages
, the lagoon was administered by the
curia publicorum
, commonly known as the
Poviego
, established in 1282 by merging previous boards charged with the maintenance of the city's canals.
The
Poviego
shared this role with the
provveditori di comun
, and in the 15th century with the highest organs of the Venetian government, the
Council of Ten
and the
Venetian Senate
.
While until the 15th century the city's constant growth meant that the Lagoon was administered from the perspective of an environment of urban expansion and administration, the slowing of that growth gave way to a view that the lagoon had to be preserved.
As a result, in 1501 the three-member board of the
savi alle acque
(
lit.
'
wise men for the waters
'
) was created by the Ten, charged with maintaining the waterways and the lagoon; as the Venetian
patrician
Girolamo Priuli noted, with some exaggeration, their chief task was to "keep the lagoon from becoming mainland".
The
savi
were an executive council, followed in 1505 by the much larger
collegio delle acque
('college of the waters'), which took over decision-making on hydraulical matters from the Ten and the Senate. Along with the
savi
, the
collegio
also comprised the
Doge of Venice
himself, and a number of other members, usually around fifty, usually veteran and high-ranking members of the Venetian government.
In 1521, another three-member board, the
esecutori alle acque
('executors on the waters') was created.
Finally, in 1678, the position of
inquisitore
was established.
Like most magistracies of the Venetian Republic, these councils were filled by election for fixed terms exclusively from among the Venetian patriciate. To provide expert assistance, the magistracy employed a number of professional personnel, including secretarial staff and hydraulic technicians. Known as the
periti
or
proti
(sing.
proto
), these were drawn from the burghers (
cittadini ordinari
) and held their position for life.
From 1542, the post of a
matematico pubblico
('public mathematician') was also instituted to provide expert advice.
In addition, in a semi-ritualized practice, the
collegio delle acque
employed the advice of eight experienced fishermen nominated from the fishing guilds of the Lagoon's main settlements.
The duties of the magistracy were to keep the Lagoon from
silting up
, maintain the entries to the Lagoon open for navigation, maintain the sandbars (
lidi
) intact, and regulate the rivers flowing into the Lagoon.
In addition, the magistracy also had a fiscal aspect, as it was responsible for the collection of a five percent
inheritance tax
, through which it financed its work.
The importance of the Lagoon for Venice also meant that the
magistrato alle acque
enjoyed a higher authority and priority than other competing agencies, most notably the
provveditori sopra beni inculti
, founded in 1556 to promote the cultivation of lands in Venice's
mainland possessions
in the
Veneto
: on issues related to the management of the rivers feeding the Lagoon, the
Magistrato alle acque
invariably had the final say, leading to aborted requests for irrigation, or canalization of the
Sile
,
Brenta
, and
Piave
rivers in ways that ensured the uninterrupted supply of the Lagoon, but exposed their surroundings to frequent flooding.
The
magistrato alle acque
in modern Italy
[
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]
Magistrate of the waters for the provinces of Veneto and of Mantua
|
|
|
Formed
| May 5, 1907
(
1907-05-05
)
|
---|
Dissolved
| June 14, 2014
(
2014-06-14
)
|
---|
Headquarters
| Palazzo dei Dieci Savi
Sestiere San Polo, 19
|
---|
The original
magistrato alle acque
disappeared with the
fall of the Republic of Venice
in 1797, but in 1907, the magistracy was re-established by the Italian state as a public institution.
The
magistrato alle acque
was led by a chairman named by the
President of the Italian Republic
in agreement with the council of ministers. Its seat was in the
Palazzo dei Dieci Savi
Venice, and it managed the entirety of
Triveneto
basin.
Its powers are primarily exercised over the Veneto region as well as the
Province of Mantua
. However, for external projects that may affect its area of interest, the
magistrato alle acque
may extend its authority until the autonomous region of
Trentino-Alto Adige
as well as the region
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
. The governance of this institution remain based around the surveillance of the lagoon area but may now concern the operations of desalination, improvement, and port regulation.
It was abolished in 2014 in the wake of a corruption scandal in the
MOSE Project
.
References
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Sources
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