?Will you look at that" St. Mark?s Square is flooded!? An Australian day tripper is astonished. ?This place is actually sinking,? her friend casually exclaims. They, like so many I?ve overhead on the vaporetti, are convinced that the Venetian islands exist on a precipice between the fragility of their current (mostly dry) condition and nothing short of imminent submersion. With catastrophe always around the corner a short break in Venice is more of an extreme adventure trip than an elegant European city-break. If it were true, that is.

Acqua Alta in Piazza San Marco (2016). Image © James Taylor-Foster

?Will you look at that" St. Mark?s Square is flooded!? An Australian day tripper is astonished. ?This place is actually sinking,? her friend casually exclaims. They, like so many I?ve overhead on the vaporetti, are convinced that the Venetian islands exist on a precipice between the fragility of their current (mostly dry) condition and nothing short of imminent submersion. With catastrophe always around the corner a short break in Venice is more of an extreme adventure trip than an elegant European city-break. If it were true, that is.Venice is not sinking ? it's flooding. Since time immemorial the city has periodically flooded as a result of tidal patterns and residents are well-accustomed to its wintertime rhythm (and, less frequently, during the summer season). While acqua alta (high water) is a fascination for intermittent visitors it is little mor...