Very High Tide
The Acque Alte of Venice
When the air raid sirens went off, I looked out the window of my hotel just off Piazza San Marco to discover that my street had, overnight, become a canal. This is not unusual for Venice—not because it is sinking (which it is, slowly), but because the way it has been built and the way the tides work on the Adtriactic Sea, Vencie inadvertantly invites the lagoon to backwash into its lower-lying regions several times through the winter months.
Although they're creating mechanical dams to prevent this, every winter season the tides bring the Adriatic Sea rushing into Venice's Lagoon—and the lagoon rushing into the streets. These acque alte, or high waters, raise the water levels in town up to three feet for brief (1-5 hours) periods. When the acque alte strike, usually between October and March, low-lying Piazza San Marco is the first area to give up the ship.
As the waters rise, you may find yourself having the peculiarly Venetian experience of walking about the inundated city long lifelines of jerryrigged wooden planks which make it took for all the world as if the city is about to host a giant picnic for people under three feet tall.
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This article was last updated in January 2007. All information was accurate at the time.
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Copyright © 1998–2008 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.
