Italy: Water re-enters St. Mark's Square and Basilica in Venice

An increase in the tide aggravated by a storm caused this marets to re-flood the emblematic San Marco square in Venice ( Italy ), as well as the interior of the basilica, since it was decided not to activate the sea protection dikes.

The Tidal Forecast Center of Venice warned early in the morning of a sea level rise of 105 centimeters and advanced that the MOSE system would not be activated, the dikes capable since last year of isolating the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.

Although much of the city did not suffer floods, the Water did reach its lowest areas, such as San Marcos Square, which is about 80 centimeters above sea level.

Thus, it was possible to see how the water flooded this square again, in which elevated walkways were arranged to allow pedestrian traffic, as well as the interior of the basilica of S an Marcos.

Venice was equipped with the MOSE system in October 2020, almost twenty years after the start of the work: it is a series of dikes that close the three mouths that connect the Venetian lagoon with the sea in case of tides exceeding 110 centimeters.

A pharaonic and expensive infrastructure that became even more urgent after the serious floods of November 2019, of 187 centimeters, a figure that had not been recorded since 1966.

Now the objective is to protect the greatest jewel of this World Heritage city: the Basilica of San Marcos. The greatest threat is the salt from the seawater, which soaks and corrodes its delicate and ancient frescoes and mosaics.

For this reason, a wall of transparent material has been built to around, to save the temple from light floods like those of this Tuesday.

Last July the Italian Government prevented Venice entered the UNESCO List of Heritage at Risk after prohibiting the entry of cruise ships into its waters, something for which neighbors and environmental organizations had been fighting for years.