Venice

Venice

Horeders of tourists lean over the Rialto Bridge as a fuchsia casket meant to represent the soul of Venice glides along the Grand Canal. At the bow of the water hears, a local Venetian thespian holds a mask replicating his own face.

The sky is hazy lavender and the air off the lagoon is crisp. The boat carrying the pink casket is flanked by rowing guards who occasionally stop to raise their oars and tap them together as a salute. A man playing sorrowful music on a grand piano on a flat barge follows the cortege.

The boats stop in front of city hall where pallbearers dressed in black silk robes carry the casket to the foyer. ‘Venice, you aren’t dead, you are just tired’ the thespian says as he delivers the eulogy- an ode to this magical city, read in Venetian dialect. Then, because this is Venice where no one takes themselves too seriously, the organisers stomp on the wooden casket and baptise the crowd with champagne as a flag of a phoenix is pulled from the splintered wood.

The mock funeral was all in fun, but it was meant to symbolise a serious problem. In October, the population of Venice dropped below 60,000 permanent residents, down from 73,000 in 1993. Locals are leaving at an alarming pace, pushed out by tourists and lured to sell by high real estate prices. When the population numbers started falling. Residents prophesied that when it fell to below 60,000 it would mean the end of Venice.

A neon display in a nearby pharmacy keeps the toll, adjusting for births and deaths. ‘We are turning into a city of ghosts,’ says Matteo Secchi, head of a group called Venessia.com which organised the funeral. ‘at this rate, in 30 years there won’t be a single Venetian left.’

That, of course, doesn’t mean Venice will be empty. On the contrary, this city is jam-packed with tourists. Some 55,000 people visit every day. Tourism is not a new problem. The city’s unique architecture and canal streets have captivated people for centuries. It was the most important stop on the grand tour in the 19^th century when the European and American cultural elite educated themselves by visiting places of note.

The 900-year-old basilica old St Mark’s church has not changed since the days of Giacomo Casanova or John Ruskin, but those who are admiring it these days don’t spend more square. Hennery James lamented the problem back in 1843 when he wrote: “the Venice of today is a vast museum where the little wicket that admits you is perpetually turning and creaking and you march through the institution with a herd of fel-low gazers.” He would surely turn in his grave if he saw Venice today.

At least back then the fellow gazers were contributing to the city’s coffers. Now, tourism has driven prices so high that few people even stay overnight in Venice. The current economic situation makes it unaffordable for almost everyone. During the grand tour, people came for weeks and months to absorb the culture. Now they fly over on low-cost junkets and follow a checklist itinerary that includes riding a gondola, feeding pigeons on St Mark’s and crossing the Rialto Bridge.

Cruise ship traffic to Venice has also doubled since 2001, with thousands of people coming in for a few hours while their ship is docked. It is far cheaper to stay in Verona or even Florence and visit Venice as a day trip. Visitors often pack a lunch and many don’t spend a single Euro in the city except on water transport. There are signs all over the piazzas that warm ‘no picnicking’ to encourage visitors to at least patronise the local cafés. ‘We don’t want this city to become a Disneyland,’ says Secchi. ‘We don’t want a scenario where someday there is an entrance fee to get in.’

The dwindling population is the most acute of the canal city’s problems, but it is not the only one. Venice is also sinking into its canals. High water inundates the sea-level city hundreds of days of the year. Sirens warn of the coming acqua alta when the sea starts rising, alerting city workers to lay out raised planks to create narrow pavements above the water.

While flooding is tedious for the tourists, it is a logistical nightmare for the residents. Not only does the high water close schools and businesses, it also damages the floors and walls of ancient buildings. Higher water levels also make it difficult for boats to run under bridges, stalling all canal traffic with aquatic logjams. The water also floods the sewers creating odours and pollution.

The city is in the process of building moveable gates called the Mose system that will respond to rising waters, but those won’t be finished for another two or three years. By damning up the lagoon, environmentalists worry that all the natural sea life will suffer. The lagoon has already ceased producing seafood. Even 20 years ago, lagoon clams were a staple of the Venetian diet. Now levels of dioxins are so high they cannot be harvested for fear of poisoning the population.

‘The ecosystem in the lagoon is already fragile,’ says Andrea Rismondo, a marine biologist for the society for the Ecology of the lagoon and Coast. ‘Anything that is done to it in any area disturbs the entire underwater environment.’

Whether it sinks or shrinks, Venice is still one of Italy’s most valuable gems. It was a maritime power in the Middle ages and served as a strategic post during the Crusades. Until the 17^th century Venice was the region’s major trade hub for spices and silks.

Its cultural heritage is equally important. The city was home to Marco Polo, Casanova and Tintoretto. Venetians are, in fact, a rare breed. During the funeral of Venice, scientists from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Massachusetts conducted a study to find out the genetic of a National Geographic Study. Cheek swabs are being collected from males whose maternal and paternal grandparents were Venetian.

These samples will be analysed and a genetic profile created of a genuine Venetian. The only problem is that soon most real Venetians will no longer be found in Venice.