Wearing protective masks and suits at the Venice carnival on Sunday. The final two days of the event have been cancelled because of coronavirus. Photo by Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
Wearing protective masks and suits at the Venice carnival on Sunday. The final two days of the event have been cancelled because of coronavirus. Photo by Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
Venice, once an exotic East-meets-West Xanadu had by the turn of the 18th century long been a tourist honeypot with Europe’s best courtesans, elegant gambling salons and the extravagant festival of Carnevale. Most famous of all revelers was Casanova whose infamous seductions were, indeed, an expression of Venetian decadence. But then, abruptly, Carnevale was kaput. Napoleon, notorious killjoy that he was, decreed an end to all masquerade balls and public festivities when he took Venice as his own in 1797. It was not until 1979 that the pipers piped and revelers once again reveled thanks to many young art students committed to reviving the craft of mask-making.
Famous spots like St. Mark’s Square were under several feet of water. The crypt of St. Mark’s Basilica was flooded.Credit...Marco Bertorello/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Famous spots like St. Mark’s Square were under several feet of water. The crypt of St. Mark’s Basilica was flooded.Credit…Marco Bertorello/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe crypt of St. Mark’s Basilica was flooded by more than three feet of water. Photo by Manuel Silvestri/ReutersUsing a makeshift bridge to exit a hotel on Wednesday. Photo by Marco Bertorello/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A masterpiece of art, history and spirituality is in grave danger, Venice is flooded. The situation is still at risk, the tide arrived yesterday at 187cm. Piazza San Marco World Heritage Site and the Basilica of San Marco, jewel of Venice are threatened. The salt water entered the Basilica putting the Crypt and the whole church at risk. A 78-year-old man was electrocuted in Pellestrina due to a short circuit. Electricity outlets are water fountains, hotel bars and restaurants as well as shops and houses submerged by water.
The siren anticipated a nightmare night yesterday. Record high water in Venice has reached 187 centimeters and with winds of 100 km / h, high water of this magnitude has not been seen since 1966. In the lagoon they expect the three days of high tide with effects on the city still unpredictable .
The crypt has been submerged by more than a meter of water, so many are the infiltrations and damages that also affect the structures and therefore the foundations of the Basilica. In addition to the Basilica of San Marco, Cà Pesaro and the La Fenice theater were hit.
The mayor is preparing the request for a state of crisis and declares that for the Marcian basilica “we have been a hair’s breadth from the disaster”. Also the general secretary of the Mibact declares that the situation is “complex and worrying”.
Prime Minister Conte has visited the city noting the serious damage entering the Basilica. Now they expect three days of high tide, as usual. These exceptional events added the bora wind and the sirocco wind that joined together to create rough seas in the lagoon and waves at Piazza San Marco.
The damage count is still difficult while the Centro Maree itself has been hit by the storm that has also damaged the telephone lines. It is feared that the high water inside the Basilica of San Marco could compromise its structure and that the materials could flourish. The situation is particularly dangerous not for the interior furnishings, but rather because the water could give static problems to the columns that support the Basilica.
The three Cime di Lavaredo: in the center Cima grande (2.999 meters), Cima Piccola (2.857 meters) and Cima Ovest (2.973 meters)
The three Cime di Lavaredo: in the center Cima grande (2.999 meters), Cima Piccola (2.857 meters) and Cima Ovest (2.973 meters)
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From the vogue in the lagoon to the peaks of the Eastern Alps. Crossed early in the Veneto region, I reach the province of Belluno entering the heart of Cadore until I cool off with the waters of Lake Misurina (1752 m asl). The call of the Dolomites, World Heritage of Humanity, is more intense than ever. I’m ready. Decided. Inspired. Three special friends are waiting for me. Three fingers of rock.
Their name is famous throughout the world: the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The departure is in the name of comfort, destination Auronzo Refuge (2320 meters above sea level).
Although the first part of the journey passes through a wooded area, it would still end up on the main access road where cars (after toll) and the more practical Dolomiti Bus pass, on which I choose to sit. The road is all paved. Gradually it becomes steeper. Meet some cow. There is also a sign indicating the possible transit. Go up along wide bends. Imitating the gesture of the logorroic hostess Claire (Kirsten Dunst) of Elizabethtown (2005, by Cameron Crowe) mime with her hands (and sound) the gesture of a photo shoot.
Rifugio di Lavaredo (Ph. C. Luca Ferrari)
Seven
km after leaving the lake shores, I dismount at the foot of the Auronzo
Refuge, belonging to the Cadorina del Cai Section (Italian Alpine
Club), located under the southern walls of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Start the walk. First stop, the Lavaredo refuge (2344 m.). The sky is cool blue. More than a trip, it’s a flat-level walk. Wisps of green grass spit out between the raw rock. Together with them, small yellow spots of “gold buttons” compete with the sun. Step by step, the typical greetings between day trippers multiply.
Before reaching the refuge (a total of about twenty minutes), here is
the small church of the Madonna della Croda built in memory of the 12th
Bersaglieri Battalion. People stop. There are those who are curious.
Rifugio Auronzo (Ph. C. Luca Ferrari)
Who says a prayer. A few meters further on there is a plaque in memory of Paul Grohmann (1838-1908), an Austrian mountaineer who conquered many peaks including the Marmolada, the Queen of the Dolomites, in 1864. Once this is over, here is the Lavaredo, positioned at sheltered from the homonymous fork and built in 1954 by the mountain guide Francesco Corte Colò “Mazzetta”, a pioneer of relief work on the wall in Tre Cime and one of the founders of the Alpine Rescue of Auronzo.
I continue following the indication for the A. Locatelli refuge on the path 101, still a little on the plain. Then attack the climb. The sun beats down. Trekking shoes advance over gravel. It is effort. We proceed slowly without overdoing it. Next up to a sort of small plateau, which reaches the wonder of wonders. Behind me there are the three Alpine sisters most loved by Venetian hikers (and not only).
Church of the Madonna della Misericordia
(Ph. C. Luca Ferrari)
Three fingers in dolomite facing the sky. They are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen in German), an ancient war front of World War I. The highest is Cima Grande, central (2.999 m). At its side Cima Piccola (2.857 m) and Cima Ovest (2.973 m). Despite being summer, there where the shadow rages without giving confidence to the sun’s rays, the snow resists. A giant slab gives the children an unthinkable and refreshing throwing game of balls.
I continue. There is a small slope, sometimes slippery. The path is still safe. Start an up and down. The landscape is increasingly imposing. My eyes keep turning to look for “those three” and aim at them. Establishing sweetly rarefied dialogues. And they, millennial giants, silent guardians of stories, anecdotes and secrets, respond with enchantment.
I leave a noisy group to overcome me. I see the Locatelli (2450 m) in the distance. Today it can wait. Today he can do without me. I remain alone. Here. Society, hope you’re not lonely without me …
