The owners of Caffè Florian, (world’s oldest), say the devastating Venice floods have caused €100,000 damages to the bar which is closed for repair work.

Located in the central Piazza S. Marco, which was engulfed by Venice’s highest tide in more than half a century, the historic bar is expected to open later this week, as the city’s waters finally begin to subside.

The bar’s manager told Italian news agency: “Once upon a time extreme phenomena of this kind occurred once every two or three years, now it seems that high water has become much more frequent, even three episodes in a week.”
The legendary bar has been inundated with messages of solidarity from around the world as Venice fights back from the flood damage whose final repair bill could top €1 billion according to the city’s mayor.

Founded in 1720, Caffè Florian is the oldest coffee bar in Italy and the oldest in the world. The 2nd-oldest coffee house in Italy is Rome’s Caffè Greco which was founded in 1760 and is currently in the midst of a long-running eviction battle.