Plea to save precious floor of cathedral after floods in Venice

VENICE’S Catholic cathedral needs urgent funding to save its precious marble and mosaic floor after flood water did decades worth of damage in a day, officials have warned.

St Mark’s Basilica, which attracts more than five million visitors a year, was filled with nearly three feet of water at the end of October in some of the worst flooding in the city since 1872.

Carlo Alberto Tesserin, the cathedral’s procurator, or administrator, said the church had “aged 20 years in a day” and estimated that initial repairs would cost €2.7 million (£2.5 million).

In a statement at the weekend, the procurator’s office said it had spent around €700,000 (£612,000) to begin the restoration, but was asking for “a specific undertaking from the Italian government for the remaining €2 million (£1.7 million)”.

It added: “We believe the government, which had promised to protect St Mark’s and the entire city of Venice from tidal flooding, must provide urgent funding, to safeguard the universal heritage of Venice.”

Venice was inundated for several days in October as “acqua alta” or high water, rose more than five feet. Torrential rains and heavy winds swept across Italy, killing 29 people and causing widespread damage.

Pierpaolo Campostrini, the engineer responsible for maintaining the cathedral, said he was particular concerned about the long-term effects of the latest flood damage.

“We have to conduct a full diagnosis, restoration wherever possible and put measures in place to stop this from happening again,” he told The Telegraph. “There is a cycle of risk as the instance of flooding has increased and the basilica is at the lowest point in Venice.”

Mr Campostrini appealed to the government to follow through with stalled measures to protect St Mark’s Square in front of the basilica and complete the MOSE, a controversial engineering project designed to prevent flooding in the Venice lagoon.

The project has been dogged by delays and corruption and is due to be finished in 2022.

Paola Mar, Venice’s councillor for tourism, said the 11th-century cathedral was a symbol of the World Heritage listed city and was loved by residents as well as tourists.

“Fortunately, none of the artworks were damaged,” Ms Mar told The Telegraph. “The problem is the floor because it has suffered corrosion from the salt in the water, which also leached into the cracks between the mosaics.”

October’s flood was the worst seen in Venice since 1966, when the waters reached a height of more than six feet.