Italy to ban mammoth cruise ships from Venice as of Aug. 1

ROME (AP) — Declaring Venice's waterways a “national monument,” Italy is banning mammoth cruise liners from sailing into the lagoon city, which risked being declared an imperiled world heritage site by the United Nations later this month.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said the ban was urgently adopted at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday and will take effect Aug. 1. It applies to the lagoon basin near St. Mark’s Square and the Giudecca Canal, which is a major marine artery in Venice.

Franceschini said the government decided to act fast “to avoid the concrete risk” that the U.N. culture agency UNESCO would add Venice to its list of “world heritage in danger” after it begins meeting later this week in Beijing.

The Cabinet decree also "establishes an unbreakable principle, by declaring the urban waterways of St. Mark's Basin, St. Mark's Canal and the Giudecca Canal a national monument,'' the minister added.

Before the coronavirus pandemic severely curtailed international travel, cruise ships discharging thousands of day-trippers overwhelmed Venice and its delicate marine environment. Environmentalists and cultural heritage have battled for decades with business interests, since the cruise industry is a major source of revenue for the city.

The government's decision was “awaited by UNESCO and by all those who have been to Venice and who have remained disturbed by the huge size of these ships passing through the most fragile and most beautiful place in the world,” Franceschini told reporters.

UNESCO recommended last month placing Venice on the agency's list of World Heritage in Danger sites.

There was no immediate comment from the U.N. cultural agency.

The Italian government earlier this year had decided on a ban but without quickly setting a date for it to start.

But now,...