THE PLAN TO MAKE ST MARK’S SQUARE WATER RESISTANT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN UP AGAIN

In the light of the last exceptionally high tide to hit Venice, the Associazione Piazza San Marco, through its president, Alberto Nardi, has reaffirmed the need to act quickly and decisively to defend the Square. The association has recalled several times and in various places that even with the Sistema Mose in operation, the Square, the symbol of the city for the whole world, would be flooded with sustained high tides. So in addition to the major works, a complementary, localised project is needed: to make the Square water resistant. A tide of only a little more than 80 cm is enough to partially flood the Square, which happens almost daily from 1 November on. The situation really is becoming intolerable, also for the shopkeepers who on Sunday felt like genuine flood victims. The president, Mr Nardi, reminded the local press that the Procuratie Vecchie side of the Square goes under water at least 100 times a year, with not inconsiderable economic repercussions, also for local businesses. The association therefore asks that the plan drawn up some time ago by the Magistrato alle Acque di Venezia to make the Square water resistant, to restore the underground drains and repair the flagstones be taken up again. This is a delicate and expensive project according to the Magistrato itself, but one that, in the light of recent not only exceptional tides, the Associazione Piazza San Marco thinks ought to be reconsidered and implemented, even gradually, in order to protect the Square and its invaluable monuments from any kind of high tide.