Venice's historic Saint Mark's Basilica faces costly flood clean-up

FILE PHOTO: The flooded crypt of St Mark's Basilica is pictured during an exceptionally high water levels in Venice, Italy November 13, 2019. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri

ROME (Reuters) - Venice's historic Saint Mark's Basilica will need millions of euros of restoration work after it was flooded this week for just the sixth time in 1,200 years, leaving its delicate marble mosaics exposed to destructive salt water, its curator said.

Saint Mark's, the personal chapel of the Doge of Venice during the medieval and Renaissance periods, is the most famous of a host of monuments endangered by the worst week of flooding seen in Venice since 1872.