French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posts pictures of Venice from space

The Italian ministers approved the ban preventing large cruise and container ships from entering the city's Giudecca canal that leads to the historic St Mark's Square.

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Since being shared online, the post has gone viral on social media and has garnered over 78,000 likes.

French aerospace engineer and pilot Thomas Pesquet has often left his Instagram followers mesmerised with the images of earth clicked from space. In his recent post, the 43-year-old European Space Agency astronaut, who is currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), shared several photographs of Venice after the Italian authorities put a ban on cruise ships entering the historic centre of Venice.

Supporting the ban in his post, Pesquet described the beauty of Italy’s floating city and how it was established over the years. “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 in a detailed Instagram post.

Read the full post here:

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A post shared by Thomas Pesquet (@thom_astro)

He further elaborated how, besides climate change, human movement is 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 wrote while concluding the post.

The floating city of Venice 🇮🇹 😍From this month big 🛳 ⛴ are banned in the lagoon, to help protect this @UNESCO site.

📸 #BigPicture https://t.co/XkBt38Yhha #MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/yaO3WYXLFx

— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 18, 2021

According to a BBC report, the Italian ministers approved the ban preventing large cruise and container ships from entering the city’s Giudecca canal that leads to the historic St Mark’s Square.

The decision, according to the news report, was in response to a request from UN cultural body Unesco as many argued that the large ships not only cause pollution but also erode the foundation of the city.

Since being shared online, the post has gone viral on social media and has garnered over 78,000 likes.

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