Cruise ships have been stopped from
landing in the centre of Venice for good thanks to a decree the
government has approved, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini
said Thursday.
The decree approved on Wednesday says a plan for the berth of
the cruise ships outside the Venice lagoon must be drawn up and
implemented.
In the meantime, big ships will keep docking at the city's
industrial port, which has been the landing site for them since
last December.
There have long been calls for cruise ships to be banned from
Venice because of their impact on the city's delicate historic
buildings and on the lagoon's unique ecosystem.
The drive to ban them intensified after a cruise ship crashed
into a quay in June 2019.
"Everyone who has been to Venice in recent years, whether they
be Italian or a citizen of the world, has been astounded by the
sight of these ships that are hundreds of metres long and as
tall as apartment buildings pass through places as fragile as
the Giudecca Canal or in front of St Mark's," said Franceschini
.
"That is why yesterday's decision by cabinet to definitively
plan and implement the docking of the ships outside the lagoon,
as UNESCO has long asked Italy to do, is so important".
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