Libreria Acqua Alta

Libreria Acqua Alta (English: High Water Bookstore) is an independently owned and operated Italian-language bookstore opened in 2002 by Luigi Frizzo, located less than a mile from Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Acqua Alta is characterized as a mix between "a library and flea market", consisting of used and new books of various genres, stacked along the walls and placed in gondolas. The bookstore contains a popular fire exit towards the back of the store, allowing visitors to stand toe-to-toe with a canal. In addition, the bookstore offers another view of the canals; towards the back of the bookstore stands a staircase made entirely of books. Despite the rising sea levels causing a flood in the store, the books remain unharmed, due to their manner of storage. Libreria Acqua Alta has been self-proclaimed as "the most beautiful bookshop in the world". In addition, visitors not only have the opportunity to see Coco, the bookstore's resident cat, but a small colony of cats whom decided to spontaneously inhabit the bookstore.

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