Venice, climate activists smear the Basilica of San Marco with mud

Venice, climate activists smear the Basilica of San Marco with mud

“I express my strongest condemnation of the action taken a short while ago by some climate activists who smeared mud on the outside of the Basilica of San Marco, in Venice, one of the symbols of culture, architecture and faith in the world. When the protest, even the most shareable one, such as the concern for climate change, transcends into actions like these, which disfigure and damage, even if only temporarily, a work of art of immense value for the Venetian community and beyond, no can only be firmly blamed."

With these words the president of Veneto Luca Zaia wanted to censor the action with which some climate activists threw liquid mixed with mud against the Basilica in Piazza San Marco.

“I respect everyone's democratic protests to the utmost, especially if they concern issues as significant as environmental ones – added the Governor – We have just concluded COP28 and it seems to me that no great signs have emerged, but this does not justify actions with which buildings such as the Basilica of San Marco are defaced. The soiling entails, among other things, a series of consequences for the restoration of the monuments which contribute to increasing Co2 emissions: for the workers who will have to travel to clean up, for the electricity used, for the machinery that will be operated . It really is a contradiction: protests must be done in a respectful manner, not only of other people's property but also of the climate"