Venice: Italian government bans cruise ships in industrial ports

Cruise ship in front of Venice: historical and cultural heritage

Photo: © Stefano Rellandini / Reuters / REUTERS

Venice no longer wants cruise ships to anchor as close to its historic sites as St. Mark's Square.

The large ships are to temporarily dock in an industrial port in the northern Italian lagoon city, as four ministries, including those for infrastructure and tourism, announced on Thursday evening.

In this way, a historical and cultural heritage should be protected not only in Italy but in the whole world.

In addition, the ministers had decided to start an ideas competition to structurally and definitively solve the problem of the passage of large ships in Venice, it said.

According to the Ansa news agency, a new cruise terminal is to be built.

For years it has been argued that the cruise ships are destroying the city's environment and substance.

The Unesco World Heritage City has only about 50,000 inhabitants.

In return, tourism rose steadily until the outbreak of the corona pandemic last year, millions of people came to the city on cruise ships, and according to the region, around 13 million overnight stays were registered in 2019.

mik / dpa-AFX