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Venice Dried Out

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René Seindal

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An extraordinary low tide left parts of the old town almost blocked yesterday, with canals dried out, gondolas stuck in the mud, and public transportation in difficulties.

Venice low tide

An ordinary low tide in Venice is between -40cm and -30cm but this one reached -72cm when it was at its lowest. At -60cm transportation in the city started to suffer, and the municipal tidal office was sent into a frenzy, trying to keep the city going. Gondolas and taxis got stuck in the mud and couldn’t go anywhere, and even in Canal Grande there were problems. The floating “bus stops” of the vaporetti became so inclined the boats could hardly moor and passengers had difficulty getting on and off the busses.

Venice low tide Venice low tide

The morning low today only reached -14cm, but the afternoon low is expected to reach -68cm, promising another problematic day for the Serenissima. Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre. More photos: Bassa marea – barche a secco.

Comments

5 responses to “Venice Dried Out”

  1. Rich avatar
    Rich

    “Zut alors,” the striped shirt men seemed to say. Great photos of an interesting phenomenon.

    Reply
  2. René Seindal avatar
    René Seindal

    Except they’re Venetian, not French 🙂

    Reply
  3. cominco avatar
    cominco

    I can see the problems and would never have guessed the tide would have such an effect. I have never been to Venice but willgt there yet. Hope the tide is in when I arrive,Cheers Cominco

    Reply
    1. Nordlys avatar
      Nordlys

      I believe the Venice area is one of the few tidal zones in the Mediterranean sea. The whole north Adriatic has tides, even if none of them is as dramatic as those in Venice.
      The rest of Mediterranean Sea (except for a little area in Tunisia) has no tide, or a tidal range of max 30 cm.

      Reply
  4. René Seindal avatar
    René Seindal

    The waters in Venice are shallow so 20cm often does make a difference.

    Reply

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