Venice's "Acqua Alta" Makes for a Messy Autumn Vacation (PHOTOS)

Photos

If your top priority is staying dry and warm, Venice in autumn might not be the place for you.

ByNicole Bonaccorso•December 7, 2016

A waiter serves coffees to tourists sat in his bar flooded during the fall of 2012 in Venice.
(Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images)

If your top priority is staying dry and warm, Venice in autumn might not be the place for you.

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Tourists walk in the flooded St Mark's Square during an ''acqua-alta'' (high-water) alert in Venice.
(Vincenzo Pinto / AFP / Getty Images)

Venice is known for it's canals and gondola transportation. Next to Rome, it's one of the main destination for tourists in Italy.

Two people sit on a terrace in St. Mark's Square during an ''acqua-alta'' or high-water in Venice on November 12, 2016.
(Marco Bertorello / AFP / Getty Images)

But every autumn and winter, Venice experiences the acqua alta, or "high water," an annual flooding due to high tides and strong sirocco winds, which brings rains, The Guardian reports.

A man stands on November 19, 2013 under arches on the flooded St Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice. The flooding is caused by wind and rain combined with the lagoon city's periodic tidal phenomenon.
(Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images)

Shoes and boots float in a flooded shop during a 'acqua alta' on November 11, 2012 in Venice.
(Marco Sabadin/AFP/Getty Images)

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The city's iconic St. Mark's Square, or Piazza San Marco, is the center of Venician culture. That doesn't change during the acqua alta. Cafes and shops continue to serve the public, though water may be knee high, even indoors.

A tourist take a rest in a flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy.
(Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

Tourists look at a shop in the flooded Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square) on November 4, 2013 in Venice. Saint Mark's Square, as the lowest point of Venice, is always the first place to be flooded.
(Olivier Morin /AFP/Getty Images)

Tourists and locals can be seen shopping and dining outside in golaches.

The city has constructed elevated boardwalks during the acqua alta for decades.
(Vincenzo Pinto / AFP / Getty Images)

Elevated boardwalks help with transportation throughout Venice.

Employees push a trolley on the flooded St Mark's square as they deliver boxes of food during a "acqua alta" on October 15, 2012 in Venice.
(Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images)

A couple exchange a kiss as they stand barefoot on a flooded St Mark's square during the first "acqua alta" of the season on October 15, 2012 in Venice. The "acqua alta" is a convergence of high tides and a strong, rainy wind,.
(Andrea Pattaro/AFP/GettyImages)

For some, the floods don't take away from the undeniable romance of the city.

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