BAKU, JULY 4 – Venice avoided ending up on the UNESCO black list, Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said Thursday. “Good news: Venice was in danger but it won’t be put on the black list,” Bonisoli said on Twitter. The decision was taken in Baku, in the course of the meeting of the World Heritage Committee to discuss downgrading the sites.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has been meeting there since June 30 and the session ends on July 10. Ahead of the meeting the mayor of Venice has urged Unesco to place the city on its blacklist as he lambasted Italy’s transport minister for failing to endorse a plan to divert cruise ships from the busy Giudecca canal.
Luigi Brugnaro’s frustration has been brewing since a huge vessel crashed into a tourist boat on the canal in early June, injuring four people. “We will write to Unesco to ask for the city to be put on the blacklist,” he told Radio 24. “Venice is in danger and we feel in danger.” (@OnuItalia)
