Rotating Venetian Marble Founded more than 1,500 years ago on 117 different islands, Venice, Italy is linked by a series of over 150 canals, 400 bridges and many ancient pavements. Travertine and Marble streets and sidewalks, cut with precision were then placed by skilled masons. The original stones were unfinished, now with hundreds of years of floods and use the marble and granite have naturally become honed and smooth.