Twenty years ago, born-and-bred Venetian Matteo Secchi would have taken hours to reach Venice’s main train station, Santa Lucia.

“I’d bump into hundreds of people I knew along the way, stopping to greet every one of them,” he recalls.

Fast forward to today, and it takes him just 10 minutes – he knows no one. New Feature

In Short

Quick Stories. Same trusted journalism.

“When I was at school, there were 25 kids in my class,” said the 55-year-old. “Now, there are only six of us left. Every now and then I feel like a foreigner in my own home and I often wonder where I am.”

He is not being dramatic. Venice’s residential population has dwindled to its lowest point in history. Only 47,995 residents are left in Venice’s historic centre , according to Venessia.com, a residents’ activist

See Full Page