The 1966 Venice flood () was an unprecedented high water, known in Venice as an "''

acqua alta An (, ; ) is an exceptional tide peak that occurs periodically in the northern Adriatic Sea. The term is applied to such tides in the Italian region of Veneto. The peaks reach their maximum in the Venetian Lagoon, where they cause partial floodi ...

"'', with waters reaching up to 194 cm.

Overview

On 4 November 1966, an abnormal occurrence of high tides, rain-swollen rivers and a severe sirocco wind caused the canals to rise to a height of 194 cm or 6 ft 4 in. Although Venice is known for its '' acque alte'' or high waters which often flood the streets, this flood left thousands of residents without homes and caused over six million dollars worth of damage to the various works of art throughout Venice. It was, up until 2022, the worst flood in the history of the city. After being neglected and quietly deteriorating ever since the defeat of the Venetian Republic by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

about a century and a half prior, Venice was suddenly recognized as a city in urgent need of restoration.

Timeline of events

Piazzetta San Marco - alluvione di Venezia 1966

The

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace (''Doge'' pronounced ; ; ) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic architecture, Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace included government offices, a jail, and th ...

in St. Mark's Square was covered with 150 centimeters of sea water (194 centimeters when measured from the average sea level). Three days of heavy rain continued to deteriorate the city and left residents walking in water up to their shoulders. Other Italian cities in Northern and Central Italy, such as Florence, Trento, and Siena, were all affected by the weather. The city remained isolated for 24 hours, and having been unprepared for this type of emergency, more than 75 percent of businesses, shops, and artisans' studios, along with thousands of goods, were either seriously damaged or destroyed completely.

Funding and Assistance

Funding and assistance came from all across the globe as the tragic event reminded many of the need to preserve Venetian art and architecture. Funding was received from: * United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) * The Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice (ACP) Other organizations initiated efforts to help Venice such as: * Save Venice Inc. *

Venice in Peril Fund Venice in Peril Fund CIO is a British registered charity. It raises funds to restore and conserve the art and architecture of Venice, and to investigate ways to protect them against future risks, particularly rising sea levels. Although it foc ...

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...

Conservation and environmental measures

While at first the

Arno River The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

's Florentine destruction seemed more severe, it was Venice that proved to be more difficult to conserve.

John Pope-Hennessy Sir John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy (13 December 1913 – 31 October 1994), was a British art historian. Pope-Hennessy was director of the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1967 and 1973, and director of the British Museum between 1974 and 1976. ...

, a British art historian, detected that the first time the full extent of the city's problems was seen: : "It was not just a matter of the flood; rather it was a matter of what the flood revealed, of the havoc wrought by generations of neglect. For centuries Venice lived off tourists, and almost none of the money they brought into the city was put back into the maintenance of its monuments. And that had been aggravated by problems of pollution, an issue of the utmost gravity." In response, several national and international organizations began working tirelessly in both Venice and Florence, making remarkable development in conserving countless individual sites. The most notable of these organizations included Save Venice Inc.,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, and the

. In the early sixteenth century Venice's perilous physical situation was realized, when its doges tried to safeguard the lagoon city and its harbor by diverting rivers from the lagoon to prevent river silt from accumulating and blocking the lagoon. Despite these efforts, over the centuries as the mean sea level gradually rose and the foundations of many buildings settled further into the mudflats, the Venetians also gradually raised their islands, as verified by the deepest archaeological layer in St. Mark's Square, which is located approximately 10 feet below the present pavement. Thus, today's continuing flooding problem is worsened by an obsolete, 400-year old lagoon-dredging program and a sinking seabed. In combination with measures such as coastal reinforcement, the raising of quaysides, and paving and improvement of the lagoon environment, engineers at Fiat designed the

MOSE Project MOSE () is a project intended to protect the city of Venice, Italy, and the Venetian Lagoon from flooding. The project is an integrated system consisting of rows of mobile gates, installed on the seafloor at the Lido, Malamocco, and Chiog ...

. These gates are able to protect the city of Venice from extreme events such as floods and morphological degradation.

References

External links