Venice, St. Mark's Basilica heavy structural damage. Patriarch: hope for government attention

St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice suffered major structural damage from the high water that invaded it last night. This was said by the Patriarch of Venice, Francesco Moraglia, who had expressed his bitterness and closeness to Venetians this morning (asking Caritas to make emergency funds available and parishes to make themselves available), and spoke at a press conference this afternoon taking stock of the situation.

Moraglia explained that St. Mark’s Basilica “is suffering structural damage because the water that invades it is salty and therefore causes irreparable damage especially when it dries in the lower part of the mosaics and floors.” Moraglia added that the basilica “is the seat of the Venetian church, a world monument so we really need to intervene, we can do ordinary maintenance but we cannot do extraordinary and structural maintenance. So on this I hope there is the attention of the government, of the ministers. We are very happy when we see ministers opening exhibitions or the Biennale, but Venice is so many other things.”

“I would like to see the images of St. Mark’s Square around 10:30-11 p.m. yesterday,” the Patriarch of Venice added. “I have never witnessed such a thing: I have seen St. Mark’s Square many times filled, but yesterday there were waves that seemed to be on the seashore. Venice is not only a beautiful city, it is a unique city and this message has to get through: a rescue operation in Venice requires time, resources, procedures that other cities don’t know so we are dealing with a beautiful, magnificent, fragile city that has to be understood.”

“I have already spoken with Mayor Brugnaro, with Prefect Zappalorto, with Governor Zaia,” Moraglia had already said this morning. “The feeling of bitterness, so much bitterness, is also related to this fact: the silence of the central authorities. Every year Venice is tried. Only on October 29 last year we had a phenomenon not of this magnitude but certainly similar and alarming and on which we had dwelt a lot with requests addressed to the authorities. We always welcome them when they come to open the Biennale, the exhibitions and so many other fine Venetian events and festivals. But we would also like them to be present around a table on which we can discuss our security together, because the security of the city is now being talked about here. It would be good to know, finally, what will become of the Mose and what we Venetians can expect after so many promises and so many expectations. This is the feeling along with the feeling of being able to visit soon the places and people most tried by this high, anointed water, which is taking on larger and larger proportions by the hour.”

In the basilica, the water invaded the crypt, which remained completely flooded (the First Procurator of St. Mark’s, Carlo Alberto Tesserin, said there was damage to the tombs of the patriarchs), the baptistery and the narthex, also going to damage the marble installed after the October 2018 tide. The damage appears to be more extensive than last year’s, since in 2018 the crypt was not flooded: this year is the first time since 1966 that the event has occurred. And, as we recalled this morning, tonight’s tide is the second worst just after the 1966 one.

Venice, St. Mark's Basilica heavy structural damage. Patriarch: hope for government attention

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.