Venice Flooding damages 1,000 year old Marble Mosaic floor at St Mark’s Basilica (Video+photos)
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Saint Markโs Basilica in Venice flooded with nearly three feet of water last week, damaging part of the 1,000-year-old marble mosaic floor inside.
The basilica โaged 20 years in one day,โ St. Markโs procurator Carlo Tesserin said. Floodwaters kept parts of the Madonna Nicopeia chapelโs intricately designed floor under three feet of water for 16 hours. The chapel, located in the cathedral’s left transept, contains a 9th-century Byzantine icon of Mary.
The baptistry and the Zen Chapel, were completely flooded. The basilicaโs bronze doors and columns also sustained damage. In St. Markโs Basilicaโs 926-year history, there have been only five floods as severe. The high watermark in Venice reached over 5 feet on Monday with an โacqua alta,โ or high tide, covering 75 percent of the city.