VI
EN
Visitors to Venice are always delighted to see an original 11-meter-long gondola, kayaks, old bathtubs, and wooden barrels used to display old and new books at the Acqua Alta bookstore. Half of the customers here are foreigners.
The bookstore owner, Luigi Frizzo, opened "Acqua Alta" a decade ago. During Venice's regular flooding, Frizzo had to move books from the floor, bathtubs, and boats to higher shelves to ensure the bookstore remained open for business. According to a recent ranking by the BBC, Acqua Alta is one of the 10 most beautiful bookstores in the world. Located in Venice's Calle Longa Santa Maria Formosa district, the bookstore is open from 9 am to 8 pm daily.
Luigi Frizzo stated:“I have a very special collection of international books about Venice, as well as some rare volumes in the Corto Maltese comic series. In addition, the shop has many genres of books on art, business, how to build gondolas for tourist transportation, and even classics.”
Almost all the books at Acqua Alta are about Venice. However, they also carry books on the esoteric philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Alongside rare books for sale, there are also books priced at just 1 euro.
According to Mr. Frizzo, the bookstore was originally a warehouse, and it took him a long time to renovate and decorate it to achieve the look it has today.
Luigi Frizzo said:“Initially, I bought wooden boats, including a discarded two-seater boat from the Querini rowing club. Besides wooden boats, bathtubs were also useful for keeping books safe from the rising tide.”
To enrich his collection and expand his shop, Mr. Frizzo also acquired private book collections. There, customers could find rare books, those rarely published to the public, and even books dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
Whenever the high tide warning sounds in Venice, the books are moved to higher shelves. However, in 2008-2009, the water rose above the sides of the gondolas, canoes, and wooden barrels, forcing him to discard many books, including a heavily damaged old encyclopedia. He is now trying to restore those valuable books.
