The minster’s intervention came after UNESCO said it would consider placing Venice on its endangered list during the organisation’s plenary session in mid-July, unless Italy issues a permanent ban on cruise ships docking in the canal city, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Franceschini wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night: “After today’s UNESCO decision, the risk of seeing Venice registered in July in the List of World Heritage in Danger compels us to take a further step, immediately prohibiting the passage of large ships in the Giudecca Canal.”

In March the government approved definitive measures to ban the giant cruise ships from the city’s historic area, including around Piazza San Marco, sanctioning €2.2 million to construct mooring points outside the lagoon.

The government said the measure was taken to “protect a cultural and historical heritage that belongs not only to Italy but to the whole world”.

For the duration of the construction works, large passenger ships were to be stopped from docking or sailing near the historic centre, and diverted to the industrial port at Marghera, about 10 kilometres away on the mainland.

However it was not made clear at the time that the plan was long-term, rather than immediate, and in early June Venice received its first visit from a cruise ship since the COVID-19 pandemic began, sparking major demonstrations in the canal city.

Franceschini described the government’s latest decree as an “important step” but stressed “we must do more and immediately prevent the passage of large ships in the Giudecca canal”.

There have long been calls for cruise ships to be banned from Venice because of their impact on the city’s delicate historic buildings and on the lagoon’s unique ecosytem.

Earlier this month, a slew of international artists – from Mick Jagger to Wes Anderson and Tilda Swinton – wrote an open letter to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Draghi and the mayor of Venice slamming cruise ships in Venice.

They called for a “final stop” to visits by cruise ships as well as better management of tourist flows, protection of the lagoon ecosystem and limits on property speculation to protect the city’s “physical integrity but also cultural identity”.

The letter to the Italian government, organised by the Venetian Heritage Foundation, said the lagoon city risked being “swept away” by cruise ships.