Venice flood map
Map of Venice flood. Venice flood map (Italy) to print. Venice flood map (Italy) to download. Venice is often threatened by flood tides pushing in from the Adriatic between autumn and early spring as its shown in Venice flood map. Six hundred years ago, Venetians protected themselves from land-based attacks by diverting all the major Venice rivers flowing into the lagoon and thus preventing sediment from filling the area around Venice. This created an ever-deeper lagoon environment.
In 1604, to defray the cost of flood relief Venice introduced what could be considered the first example of a 'stamp tax' (see Venice flood map). However, the city of Venice is still threatened by more frequent low-level floods (called Acqua alta, "high water") that creep to a height of several centimetres over its quays, regularly following certain tides. In many Venice old houses the former staircases used to unload goods are now flooded, rendering the former ground floor uninhabitable.