To Save Venice After Its Latest Flood, You Can Adopt a Piece of It

In 1971, Americans established the Save Venice foundation to help repair the city following a record deluge in 1966. The nonprofit has since funded the conservation of more than 1,000 artworks. Its mission is more pressing 3after November’s flooding, the worst acqua alta since 1966. 2Melissa Conn, who runs its Venice office, says water “broke over the floodgates and moved stonework and marble. We’re worrying about the foundations of the buildings, as well as the stonework.” Save Venice has a range of funding options. How will it put your money to use?

Only trained conservation pros can carry out restoration work. They must rinse stonework with distilled water and assess conditions at the site. “Sending the cleaning lady in doesn’t really work,” Conn says. Larger sites can require 60 or more such pros.