Our city is built on the bones of oak, elm and larch. Large wooden poles sink deep in the sand to support the buildings, and that makes our mansions look like a rich crown of a dead forest growing from the blue water of lagoon. That`s what the most people think. However, some Venetians still believe in old stories – the stories about sea monsters, whose remains became a foundation of the big city. No wonder that one of the quarters is called Dorsoduro, which means "strong back". Who knows what slumbers in the lagoon under the serene mirror surface of the sea?

My thoughts were back in the crypt of our convent on Terra dei Miracolo. The wet floor sloped down into the dark pool, and along the wall there was an ancient bas-relief with fantastic images of those-who-live-under-the-waves. They were all here. A waterwhirl with its freakishly long tentacles that could easily break the bones of an adult. Leviathan that "can make the sea foam like a boiling cauldron" as it was written in the Psalm. Wildly twisted clusterlimb and sharp-teeth morray – they looked so realistic that it seemed you could touch them if you dared to. As I was looking at the stone figures, my mind plunged deeper and deeper into the sea. The creatures there were painted more roughly, because no one had seen them since the old legends became a thing of the past. A round morengult devoured its prey, looking like a ball covered with needles. Two squabbling rocky howlers were fighting over a fish. And finally, right above the water's edge, there was a Horro, a terror of the depth that breathed in unison with the sea and awoke at the full moon. A terrible creature that could send a fleet of ships into the abyss if you invoke its wrath.

Slanting rays of light penetrated through the holes in the ceiling and water reflection made the stone tentacles, claws and fins move, toss and squeezed within the framework of the bas-relief.

You could find a sea legend almost in all Venetian basilicas. “A Miracle with The Fishermen”, "Walking on the Waters", "Taming the Storm". On the wall of San Giacomo temple the artist painted St. Nicholas standing on the back of a sea serpent. However, the most popular legend told about the Holy Viadora`s victory.

I had read and heard this legend so many times that I could picture it in all the details in my imagination. That day, three hundred years ago, the enemy defeated our fleet and approached the city. Their galleys ranged in front of our harbor like a pack of hungry wolves ready to attack their helpless prey. The citizens arranged blockages of logs and chains to block the path while the Cathedral bells were announcing the death of the the old Doge, Andrea Grimani. It seemed that the Republic would die with him. And then young Viadora, a nun from the island of Terra dei Miracolo, entered the sea to summon those-who-live-under-the-waves.

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The city was shaken by tremors. The old Argento bridge collapsed, and so did several houses near the waterfront. The city canals turned green with the tide of seawater. Then out of the blue came a great storm. The sea was boiling and the frightened Venetians could see smooth black skin, sharp teeth and huge tentacles that coiled around the enemy`s flagship and slowly lugged it away into the depth. The other ships were scattered across the harbor like wood chips. The city had gone mad. Triumphant shouts and trumpets mingled with shrieks of terror.

In the Venetian murals Viadora was usually painted as a tall woman dressed in azure robes. But here, in the secret crypt of the monastery of Terra dei Miracolo, an unknown artist depicted everything as it really was: a chiamatie had to go into the water other-naked. And so, a young nun Viadora – just a little girl under her sixteens – was staring fearlessly at a huge slippery block of dark flash the size of a felucca. The bright colors had not faded with age. The girl's thin, awkward figure seemed to glow against the gloomy waves with grey splashes of foam.

As I was sitting alone in the crypt and listening to the soft breathing of the sea, I thought that the artist didn`t have the courage to paint the legend up to the end. He must have thought of it as something terribly cruel. Well, it really was, unless you were taught to be a chiamatie. Our second rule said that the sea had no concept of justice. If it responded to you call, it would respond to the feelings in your heart. Therefore, for your own safety, before you put your hands in the sacred water, you should clear your mind from your anger and dark thoughts first.

Viadora summoned the those-who-live-under-the-waves with anger and hatred in her heart because she wanted to destroy the enemy`s fleet – and she herself was torn to pieces by the creatures who answered her call. But the city was saved.

I wasn't that strong, of course. But after long hours of meditation in the crypt the sea responded to my call. I hoped it would come to help me when it was the time to avenge and protect the two people I loved. I would do it. And I didn`t care about the price.