Venice finally bans cruise ships from its lagoon

Cruise ships currently dock in the city center, gliding past the historic St Mark's Square on their way in. But now the Italian government has banned cruise ships from the lagoon entirely.

(CNN) — For those on a Mediterranean cruise, it's one of the most memorable sights: the city of Venice unpeeling beneath the boat, the centuries-old buildings and bell towers dwarfed by the ship, giving onlookers a spectacular bird's eye view. But for many on the shore, cruise ships in Venice have come to symbolize the excesses of modern tourism -- the type that can unleash thousands of visitors on a city ill equipped to deal with them on a "hit and run" visit to see the sights, but not spend any money in the local economy. For years, campaigns to oust cruise ships from the lagoon have been gaining traction, with locals claiming that the ships' massive structures erode the seabed, effectively turning the lagoon into an offshoot of the Adriatic Sea.