The trade route followed the various waterways behind and protected by the sandbanks along the coast: marshes, manmade canals, estuaries and lagoon pools. This was an ancient route, a valid alternative to roads or sea, allowing men and cargo to travel even during the winter months or bad weather. Small flat-bottomed barges were used, at times pulled along by the sailors using the so-called “alaggio” mooring system.
Hence the picturesque image of these “boats that seemed to sail across the fields, pulled along the banks by ropes” and the paradox of men transporting the boats and not the other way round