Venice flood damage to St. Mark's Cathedral totals millions

Every stone is a treasure,'' says the technical director of St. Mark's Basilica's vestry board, indicating the prized gold-leaf mosaics overhead, the inlaid stone pavement and the marble clad walls of the 923-year-old masterpiece.

And many are vulnerable to the infiltration of sea water during the lagoon city's ever-higher tides.

Constructed atop two previous churches on a site that early Venetians believed was among the most secure in the Canal City, St. Mark's Basilica suffered at least 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in damage during last month's devastating great tides. The first, on Nov. 12, was the highest in 53 years, followed by two above 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), a series of severe inundations never before recorded.

Though the highest was seven centimeters less than the famed 1966 flood of 1.94 meters, St. Mark's chief caretaker, Carlo Alberto Tesserin, said, ''We say this was the worst.'' Unlike other natural disasters, like, say, an earthquake that leaves images of collapsed bell towers and fallen walls, fresh damage from the Venice floods is so far not visible to the naked eye.

''Someone who comes to Venice to see the high water, and who goes to St. Mark's Square the next day, sees tables in the square, says, 'Hey, look, the orchestra is playing. Nothing is wrong here.' While, in reality, what is hidden, is everything we have verified in these days,'' said Tesserin, who submitted the damage estimate earlier this month to city and national officials.

Peaking at 1.87 meters (6.14 feet) above sea level, last months'great tide was accompanied by wind gusts of up to 120 kph (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.

Witnesses reported waves in St. Mark's Square never before seen. The Venice Patriarch told a news conference that they were like waves at the seashore, a first in his experience despite having witnessed ''the piazza full of water many times.''
'''Even at a height of 12 meters (nearly 40 feet), we have salt that comes out, that crystallizes,'' Maneschi said. ''The disaster is inside, where we cannot see. But we can monitor with new technology.''
Tesserin said that they believe the water flooding in from the crypt windows was actually a blessing in disguise, creating pressure that prevented the lagoon rising beneath the Basilica from shattering those concrete barriers, called ''vasca,'' or Italian for ''tub.''