A classic fake photo shows Venice, Italy completely frozen over.

Fake Photo.

The photo of the iconic Italian city under an ice siege is merely a digital composite of two different images. This Photoshopped photo, however, could be considered a reprise of a similar event when the lagoons and canals did experience a freeze for the first time in over two decades back in 2012. Let’s take a look at the image in question.

The picture shown above is actually a picture of Piazza San Marco taken by well known photographer Luis Manuel Osorio Fernando, but the ice was added later. You can view the original below. The ice that was inserted into the image comes from a picture of Russia’s Lake Bakail, generally considered the deepest lake in the world, taken by Daniel Kordan. That photo is also shown below. This mashup was posted in February 2014 on Instragam and gives the illusion of a beautiful and dramatic photo of the famed Italian city.

Real Frozen Venice

Although the “Frozen Venice” photo above is fake, that’s not to say that Venezia and its canals and lagoons do not freeze or gather ice. When it happens on rare occasion, it is never to the extent seen in the fake photo above. The most recent freezing of the Venice canals occurred a few years ago during Europe’s “Big Chill.” You can view pictures of that event here. Prior to the 2012 freeze, the lagoons and canals of the city had not experienced any icing in more than two decades.

The photo above shows the real freeze which occurred in Venice in 2012. As you can see, it did not freeze solid, and boats were still able to traverse the waters.

You can check out the current “live” view of the Grand Canal courtesy of the Earth TV webcam.

Bottom Line

The “Frozen Venice” photo which has widely circulated online since early 2014 is a composite of two different images. Venice has frozen on rare occasion, but it doesn’t resemble the fake image above.

Updated November 24, 2015
Originally published February 2014