MOSE flood barriers, Venice belongs to the Common Era — dated here to c. 2020 CE at Venice, Italy. Dates mark a scholarly centre of gravity (dedication, completion, or iconic phase), not a single foundation day.
Mobile gates that rise from the lagoon floor to hold back Adriatic surges — a city fighting the sea with engineering.
How it amazes the brain
Hollow steel gates filled with water/air, decades in the making, controversial and necessary.
Why it counts as a wonder
It never needed a contest ballot to scramble the brain: scale, craft, or sheer improbability is enough.
A wonder still proving itself storm by storm.
On dating
CE means years after the traditional birth of Christ. A monument listed as c. 2020 CE may have been founded earlier, rebuilt later, or become famous only in one phase. Engineering wonders (dams, tunnels, orbiting labs) are dated to opening or assembly.
This is story 97 of 100 in The Trend Ledger’s illustrated desk on world wonders raised after the birth of Christ — the companions to our BCE series.