Venice Holds Back the Water For First Time In 1,200 Years

On Saturday, Venice successfully trialed its long-awaited flood barriers during the first acqua alta of the season. CNN reports: A previous trial in July, overseen by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, had gone well -- but that was in good weather, at low tide. Earlier trials had not managed to raise all 78 gates in the barriers that have been installed in the Venetian lagoon. Against all the odds, it worked. At 12.05 p.m., high tide, St Mark's Square -- which starts flooding at just 90 centimeters, and should have been knee-deep -- was pretty much dry, with only large puddles welling up around the drains. The square's cafes and shops, which often have to close for hours on end, remained open. And in the northern district of Cannaregio, Sebastian Fagarazzi's home stayed dry.

The defense system is called MOSE, the Italian for Moses, a name derived from the more functional Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, meaning Electromagnetic Experimental Module. It consists of 78 flood barriers installed in the seabed at the lagoon's three main entrance points. When the high tide arrives, they can rise to form a dam, stopping the Adriatic Sea surging into the lagoon and flooding the city.

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