French astronaut Thomas Pesquet shared a picture of Venice from space, commenting on how a ban on cruise ships entering the Italian city will help sustain it for the future. The 43-year-old aerospace engineer is currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 

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In July, Italian authorities announced a ban on large cruise ships sailing into Venice. The ban took effect on August 1 and covers the lagoon near the city’s St. Mark’s Square and the Giudecca Canal.

Italy’s Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said that the government decided to act fast to avoid UNESCO adding Venice to its list of World Heritage in Danger sites. 

The UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger did not include Venice in the list. 

Pesquet in the caption to his Instagram post said that the thick wooden planks around Venice were unsung heroes. 

 “Most of us know it for its watery canals, bridges and melodic gondoliers but the unsung heroes of Venice are actually thick wooden planks,” he wrote. 

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He further continued by saying that along with climate change, human movement is also affecting the city.

“That’s not an insult by the way, when the city was established, stakes of alder wood from nearby forests were driven deep into the lagoon to support construction. Saltwater and a lack of air-hardened and protected this wood from damage and rot and most of the city’s buildings still rely on these clever historic foundations,” he added.

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“Now one of the biggest challenges Venice faces (aside from climate change, which is huge) is human movement stirring up the water. Earlier this month, a ban on large vessels came into force, stopping cruise ships from entering the lagoon and hopefully helping to sustain this UNESCO site for the future,” he concluded. 

At the time of writing this story, Pesquet’s Instagram post was liked more than 90,000 times.