Last month's devastating great tides wreaked havoc in Venice.
. The first, on Nov. 12, was the highest in 53 years, followed by two above 1.5 meters , a series of severe inundations never before recorded.
Peaking at 1.87 meters above sea level, last months'great tide was accompanied by wind gusts of up to around 75 mph that pushed the waters even higher, flooding through the windows in St. Mark's crypt of patriarchs. The gale-force gusts buffeted the Basilica’s domes, tearing away lead tiles, Tesserin said. Both floodwaters entering from the windows and the ripping away of lead tiles were firsts in the Basilica’s history.
The crypt remained under water for nearly 24 hours, while two more exceptional floods over 1.5 meters kept the Basilica closed for a week. Before re-opening, workers washed the Basilica floors four times with fresh water -- a necessary treatment but one that carries risks as the salt is abrasive against pavement stones, Maneschi said.
Now, architects suspect that concrete barriers built in the 1990s to prevent water from entering the crypt from beneath the Basilica were damaged by the force of last month’s floods. The Venice landmark includes 130 different kinds of marble -- some which no longer exist -- that tell the story of ancient conquests. Treasures, like the Madonna Nicopeia that accompanied Byzantine armies to battle, populate every corner, more than the average admirer can possibly assimilate in one visit. But the real prize, Tesserin notes, are its 8,500 square meters of mosaics.
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