High water, canals and explorations of Venice, Italy.
Venice, Italy, is known for its canals and picturesque views. So much so, that it is overwhelmed by tourists in the summer (mostly because of cruise ships). I have been to Venice three times now, all outside of cruise ship season, once in January, once in February and this time over Christmas. February is the best time to visit honestly due to less flooding risk and crowds.
Venice’s famous Grand Canal, taken near the Accademia.
My Christmas visit was interesting, not because it was a busy holiday, but because of Acqua Alta (High Water). Venice, being a low-lying island city, is prone to flooding during the tides. Most of the city is prepared for low level high tides, but not for tides that go a foot over the sidewalks or more and that is what happened many times in the Fall of 2019 and the days preceding Christmas. Let’s just say my visit was interesting. Luckily, I had been to Venice before, otherwise I might have well been bummed out.
My visit to Venice will be divided into two posts. The second post will be on the San Marco area and will be my last post on my trip to Malta and Italy. So sad.
My first day started a little late. The Hide Tide was very, very high and I had no boots. I had picked a really adorable hotel near San Marco, which is the lowest part of the city. The hotel annoyingly didn’t have a plank to the boardwalk, so I had to wait it out for a while. However, I did score a pair of stylish plastic shoe covers that lasted for a couple of days later in the day.
Venice was built on a series of small islands that were later expanded using landfill and piers. Some of these tiny canals used to be rivers that separated the islands, which later got boxed in. Each island was considered a neighborhood, for the most part.
Campo San Maurizio still a little flooded. The centers of the plazas are sloped down in order to collect water into the well.
People congregating in Campo San Stefano. Some are sporting some fancy plastic booties.
More of Campo San Stefano. I love this square.
Lovely, lovely Venice.
How Venice does a vegetable stall. They put it on a boat, of course!
Reflective canal. You can see that the water level was still a bit high.
One of my favorite churches, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. The Frari is one of the few churches in Venice that still has its Gothic exterior. I love it!
The interior is super open plan, with tombs of doges (the elected rulers of Venice) along the walls.
This is actually not for a doge, but for the Venetian Antonio Canova (1757-1822), a neoclassical sculptor famous for his marble statues. I guess the monument fits him, but it’s a bit out of place for the church. Canova originally designed the tomb for the painter Titian, but the design ended up being used for his monument instead. Although only his heart is in there. Canova was mostly buried in his hometown of Possagno on the mainland, which belonged to Venice at the time.
The quire (choir area) is still very Gothic, and I love it. They were restoring the painting behind the altar in place (it’s gigantic), hence the curtain.
Those old wooden benches are just amazing. Quires were opened up following the Middle Ages, especially during the Renaissance and Baroque periods when church architecture changed to a more open plan. You can see a lot of quires like this in the United Kingdom still though (many fantastic Victorian recreations).
Medieval tomb of a knight, probably dating back to the early days of the church.
The tomb on the left is my favorite. A chap in a hat on his horse. What a tomb!
Back out to the canals!
My next destination is one of my favorite museums in Venice, Ca’Rezzonico, once of the few 18th century palazzi left.
The first level of exhibits has lots of historic cabinets with china, artwork, painting ceilings and furniture. The second floor has more artwork and furniture on display.
I’m not sure what is going on with this door or who ever thought a camel looked like that.
What I like to call the “throne room” for that fancy chair on the fall wall. Some seriously fancy chairs.
A shop full of famous Venetian Carnival masks and costumes.
A new day dawns over Venice and so does a major Acqua Alta, disrupting many of the plans for the day. That didn’t matter to me much since I had been to Venice before. So, I went for a wander instead, one of my favorite actives in Venice.
Campo Santo Stefano again and now completely flooded. The water was a good 4-5 inches deep and was a little difficult to walk in. Didn’t want to trip. That would have been bad.
This restaurant was preparing for lunch on a high spot of the square. The waiter was in boots and going on as normal.
Early morning light over the Grand Canal.
The front of Ca’Rezzonico from the Grand Canal. The villa had a dramatic entrance on the canal.
The pier on the right is a Vaporetto stop. They have named stops just like metro/bus stops and there are several different Vaporetto lines.
The Rialto area became the shopping area of Venice very early on. It’s famous for its marble bridge, the Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge). The Rialto is also one of the lowest areas of Venice, normally there is a walkway on the right side here and more space under the bridge. It was a doozy going under on the boat.
The flooded Rialto Market. Business as usual, just make sure you wear your boots and watch your step.
A bit of fog started rising from the water once the sun rose above the buildings creating this cool effect.
So how do people get around? Well boots and boardwalks! These are found in the higher traffic low lying areas. Even if you have boots on, the boardwalks are much less tiring to walk on than the water. Taken from near the train station.
Flooded vegetable stand. Venetians have adapted to the tides.
A flooded intersection. The water was quickly dropping but it was still weird to see a city completely functioning with water just everywhere.
View from the Rialto Bridge, midway down the Grand Canal. The walkways were reappearing again from under the tide. People are starting to venture out to find lunch.
Okay, maybe the walkways aren’t for the faint of heart, but the restaurants were open. To get inside, all you had to do was step over the barriers. You can sort of make out a glass barrier on the doorway to the right. By the way, there is reason all the stairs and edges of the walkways along the canals are made of a lighter stone. Much easier to see under the water! Things you learn during a flood.
I rode down the Grand Canal again and was able to see one of my favorite churches, Santa Maria della Salute.
While this visit to Venice didn’t go to plan due to flooding, I was an interesting visit. I saw the city in a different way than my first two visits. Would I visit Venice again? Absolutely.
Visiting Venice? Check out my Venice travel guide!
Check out my next update where explore Venice’s Piazza San Marco!
or
Start at the beginning of this adventure with my update from Valletta, Malta!
I hope the MOSE poject works like the trials did, although they should set the flood settings lower. San Marco still flooded after the project was up and running.
Yes, definitely on the lower flood settings. I hope I visited during the last major flood Venice has in a long time.