60 years ago today, the water rose. And rose. The world answered.

On November 4, 1966, Venice experienced its highest aqua alta (high water) on record, a staggering 194 cm (over 6 feet), submerging the city with corrosive seawater. Remembered as Acqua Granda, the catastrophic combination of rain, wind, and storm surge devastated shops and homes, damaged historic churches and artworks, and destroyed boats, docks, and other infrastructure. The very same day, the weather system struck Florence, causing the Arno River to burst its banks, inundating the city with water and mud, leaving widespread damage and destruction in its wake.

The plight of Venice and Florence brought the world’s attention to the need to protect the endangered and irreplaceable cultural patrimony in both cities, galvanizing an international recovery effort in the immediate aftermath. Save Venice founders, Professor John McAndrew of Wellesley College, his wife Betty Bartlett McAndrew, and Professor Sydney J. Freedberg of Harvard University, were active in these earliest campaigns. After four years of collaboration with groups including CRIA (Committee to Rescue Italian Art) and the Venice Committee of International Fund for Monuments, they branched off to focus solely on preserving Venice, and Save Venice was founded in 1971. Since then, Save Venice has funded the restoration of over 2,000 works of art, and today, is committed to more than 100 projects and educational initiatives at 28 sites across Venice and the Veneto.

Just over half a century later, on November 12, 2019, Venice endured another extreme acqua alta with damaging winds and torrential rain. The water peaked late that evening at 187 cm, just shy of the record set in 1966. Over the following days and weeks, several more exceptional tides compounded the harm and complicated emergency relief.

Within days of the disaster, Save Venice launched the Immediate Response Fund (IRF) for artistic and cultural heritage recovery and preventative conservation, proudly partnering with the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. on the campaign #AmericaLovesVenice. Save Venice moved quickly to support efforts to mitigate the effects of corrosive saltwater and deposits in the churches, museums, and public buildings that experienced the tidal flooding. Projects also included emergency conservation treatment for paintings, stonework, floors, wooden furnishings, and books and archival documents, as well as preventative conservation to minimize damage from future extreme weather conditions, such as floods, heavy rain, and strong winds.

The impact of Save Venice’s swift actions spanned the city, with IRF funding enabling emergency interventions at twenty-one sites, including twelve churches, two museums, two confraternities (scuole), four educational and cultural institutions, and one cemetery. Since 2019, the IRF has continued to support treatment for the lingering long-term effects of the floods, as well as rapid interventions following severe weather.

In 2026, IRF efforts continue on the 12th-century mosaic floor and exterior wooden doors at the church of Santi Maria e Donato on the Island of Murano, and the 18th-century inlaid marble floor of the Saint Pantaleon Chapel in the church of San Pantalon, with additional work slated to begin on fragile stonework in the church of San Polo.

Although Venice’s MOSE flood gates (learn more below) have been activated for high tides since 2020, vital interventions at individual buildings are needed to address the continued persistent effects of past flooding, as well as escalating risks from climate change.

After decades of construction and testing, Venice’s MOSE flood gates were activated for the first time on October 3, 2020. Since then, they have been raised 157 times to protect the city from exceptional high tides of 110 cm and above. Because the system is currently operated only above that threshold, low-lying areas, including Piazza San Marco, still experience regular tidal flooding, particularly in autumn and winter.

On November 22, 2022, MOSE spared the city another record-high tide, averting a disaster on the scale of 1966 or 2019. The system is now managed and maintained by the Autorità per la Laguna di Venezia, which estimates that in its first years of operation, MOSE has already prevented the equivalent of five months of flooding and more than €3 billion in potential acqua alta damage, against construction costs to date of over €6 billion. Each closure of the gates costs upwards of €200,000.

Because MOSE is still new, its long-term impact on the lagoon ecosystem and on the city’s historic buildings is not yet fully understood. With sea levels continuing to rise, the gates may need to close far more often than originally planned, and for longer periods, threatening the health of the lagoon and straining financial resources.

MOSE is a vital line of defence, but it cannot undo what water, salt, and time have already done to Venice’s treasures. Protecting the city takes both the barrier at the lagoon’s edge and care for what lies within, and Save Venice is more dedicated than ever to that mission.