Walk the Water Carriers’ Territory
Two books. One city carried by working hands.
The Water Girls
Venice, 1895. Lina Gruber aims to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a bigolante—the women who have carried fresh water through the maze of narrow Venetian streets for centuries, their yokes and metal buckets a familiar sight in the city.
Under her cousin Maria’s guidance, Lina learns to master the demands of this arduous job. But when Maria’s beloved friend—another bigolante—is found drowned in the lagoon, unsettling questions arise that may point to her cousin. Lina cannot dismiss the growing suspicions, even as they threaten the fragile sense of belonging she has worked so hard to build.
With the city slowly expanding the aqueduct to provide running water, the future of the bigolanti is uncertain. Major historical events both near and further afield in Italy, along with the dawn of a new century, mirror Lina’s journey as she is caught between tradition and transformation.
The Water Girls illuminates the lives of the forgotten women whose daily labor sustained one of the world’s most celebrated cities.
Venice’s Water Carriers: An Illustrated History
An illustrated monograph documenting Venice’s bigolante—the women who carried fresh water through the city for centuries.
As diarist Marin Sanudo observed in the 15th century, Venice is in the water, but it has no water. The city survived through ingenious rainwater cisterns and the women who made them work.
Featuring 50+ period images—archival photographs, paintings, postcards, and technical diagrams—this visual study traces the bigolante from Zompini’s 1785 etchings through the aqueduct’s arrival in 1884, recovering the practical realities behind the romanticized “local colour” image.
Includes timeline, map, and 51 pages of focused historical documentation.“
A compact historical documentation of a vital yet overlooked profession.
