In Venice we are at business as usual and high water is nothing new even if the tide of the other day was record breaking and made us fear a repeat of the 1966 disaster. But, even if this is the case, why should we ever resign ourselves to ruin of a jewel of humanity like the St. Mark's Basilica? Hearing the Procurator of the Basilica sound the alarm and spread his arms saying that "in a single day the Basilica has aged 20 years" is something that wrings the heart. And that it would be criminal to tolerate.
Be careful not to lump all the herbs together, but also be careful not to fall into addiction and indifference. As often happens in Italy it is always difficult to identify the responsibilities of the problems and Venice is no exception, but woe to give up.
The problem of San Marco, of its square and its Basilica, is different from that of the whole city because the Square and Basilica are located at the lowest point of Venice. About 80 cm the Piazza goes under water (over the years most of the city has been "raised" to 100-110). So more than a hundred days a year it is flooded. The problem of the Basilica is even more dramatic: the narthex "goes below" when the tide is above 60 cm above sea level, therefore even more often.
To prevent the tide from damaging the square and the Basilica of San Marco, not even the Mose and the system of its movable bulkheads, which has already cost 5,5 billion and is not yet finished: it would be decent to complete it, but alone it would not solve the emergency at San Marco. The bulkheads would have to go up too often, the lagoon would get poisoned. Here the problem is very simple, so to speak: to reduce high waters, the Piazza and the Basilica should be raised. It has been discussed since the 90s with one of the first projects commissioned by the Magistrate and the Consortium to two architects, George Lombardi e Hugh Camerino. The project involved the construction of a water drainage channel under Piazza San Marco. That plan remained a dead letter and over the years high tide continued to damage both the Piazza and its Basilica.
The Procuratoria di San Marco has recently elaborated a project by the Proto , the architect Mario Piana, to isolate the Basilica and reduce the high waters inside it: he gave it to the State which would have had to spend two million. It was supposed to be ready in the spring of this year, while different hypotheses and different competences follow one another on how to deal with the more general problem of the Piazza. Will there ever be progress? Do the State and the city, the Consorzio Venezia Nuova and the Municipality want to decide to deal with it and to act or not?
Is it ever possible that every year we have to wait for the tides and high water season to remember the San Marco emergency? You die of immobilism and you can't stand talking anymore. State and Municipality get together around a table, decide and act. Quickly. Otherwise they shouldn't be surprised if, sooner or later, someone will pick up those responsible with pitchforks. Because patience has its limits and in San Marco it's already over for a while.
