A flood! Oh wait...

When we arrived in Venice it was dark. We wandered through the piazza in front of San Marco, amazed by the columns, the arches, the magnificence of it all.

The next morning we returned and were shocked, and delighted, to find that the piazza had flooded!

It was interesting to learn that Piazza San Marco often floods at this time of the year. Actually it is not always that the banks of the Grand Canal have overflowed, but that the gutters that are meant to drain the rainwater from the piazza into the canal run the other way and water from the canal flows into the square instead. 

The season between October and April is called the acqua alta. Due to the tide at this time of year, the winds off the Adriatic Sea and the gradual but steady sinking of the soil, water is routinely flooding into the streets and piazzas of Venice. The area of San Marco is the first to go under water, since it is the city's lowest point. But many canals throughout the city will overflow their banks during this time.

The evening before we had noticed stacks of boards in many squares, and even down some streets. The next morning we saw their intended purpose (which we had guessed) - to help people traverse the water. There are city workers whose job it is to move them about and position them appropriately, then re-stack them when they are no longer necessary.

In the meantime we were having a LOT of fun, splashing about!

 

More about Venice to come!