This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase by clicking on these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read the disclaimer for more information.

Venice is one of my favourite cities in Italy, and I can actually say it is certainly one of the most amazing places I have visited in the world. Just wandering around and getting lost in it’s maze of streets was the best part of all, but something that I noticed a lot of when we were first there were these stacks of wooden platforms all over the place. I couldn’t work out what they were all for, and there were a lot of them particularly around the San Marco area.

It wasn’t until our second day in Venice that I found out what their purpose was. We had spent the morning exploring St Mark’s Square and visiting the Doge’s Palace, and when we walked out of the palace we were amazed to find that the square was actually flooding!

When there are high tides in Venice, the wooden platforms are laid down in the flooded areas to create a raised walkway, so that people don’t have to walk through the water. It was an incredible sight and something that we just didn’t expect to see.

As we wandered around the streets of Venice for the next few days, the low lying areas flooded at high tide. Here are some of the photos that I took of Venice flooded:

Next to Doge's Palace Flooding in Venice, Italy

The square outside the Doge’s Palace

Flooding in Venice, Italy St mark's square

Looking towards St Mark’s Square and Basilica

Flooding in Venice, Italy front of St mark's Basilica

People line up on a platform to get into St Mark’s Basilica

Flooded canal in Venice, italy

A flooded canal

Fish in a canal in Venice, Italy

Fish enjoying the high tide in a canal

Flooding in Venice, Italy Grand Canal

People watch as the water laps up over the edge of the Grand Canal

Flooding in Venice, Italy Rialto Bridge

Flooding at the Rialto Bridge

Flooded restaurant in Venice, italy

A restaurant right on the Grand Canal with views of the Rialto Bridge is completely empty

Foreshore at St Marks flooded in Venice, italy

Gondolas lie waiting at the foreshore at St Mark’s