Venice

Thousands of people, many dressed for a traditional masked ball, crowded into Saint Mark's Square on Feb. 16 to witness "the flight of the angel", the opening event of the annual Venice Carnival.    

The Marghera Industrial Port in Venice's lagoon was evacuated as a 225 kg World War II-era bomb was defused and set to be exploded in the sea., the French press and DPA reported.

Some 3500 people living in the area were also evacuated.

The movement of ships, trains and buses was temporarily halted, and Venice International Airport stopped all flights for several hours.

Romania has a privileged place in terms of visibility at La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale), Romanian Culture Minister Bogdan Gheorghiu said on Tuesday. "Here, I have two arguments. One would be the visitor inflow, which is a huge one. For instance, last year over 600,000 people visited the Arts Biennale, and two years ago, almost 300,000 persons visited the Architecture Biennale.

The year 2019 marked 400 years since the birth of Francesco Morosini (1619-94), who was elected doge of Venice in 1688, and Maria Georgopoulou, director of the Gennadius Library, and Alexis Malliaris, archivist at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, have curated an exhibition that showcases several important events in his military and administrative career.

Leading cruise operator MSC Cruises announced on Wednesday in Athens a first for the Swiss-based operator: the launch of a new route across the Aegean and the East Mediterranean that will have Piraeus as its home port.

Karacabey floodplain, known as a hidden paradise in Bursa province and habitat to hundreds of species, is now home to a ringed flamingo from Venice, Italy.

About 60 percent of Venice's historic centre is underwater again. The level of tidal waves from the lagoon, in which the Italian city is located, reached 144 centimeters.

There have been about 20 similar cases in the recent history of the city, but in recent years these phenomena have become more frequent.

About 70% of Venice is underwater once again. The water level has reached 150 cm above sea level, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said, DPA and BTA reported.

The city's lowest point, San Marco Square, was flooded and closed to tourists. The UNESCO-protected city lagoon was flooded for the third time in less than a week.

As floodwaters in Saint Mark's Square are no longer a novelty, and knowing that, in any case, Venice has a problem as it was built in a lagoon, most of us probably did not understand the severity of the danger posed by this week's flooding of the city that once reigned over much of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Water levels are expected to rise to 150 centimeters in Venice today - a new peak at a critical level of 130 centimeters, TASS reported, citing authorities in the Italian city.

"The water level is expected to reach 150 cm by 11.20 (12.20 Bulgarian time)," a tweet said.