Environmentalists have protested against the ships in recent years, saying they damage the city's fragile lagoon¹（环礁湖）.

 

From January 2014, the number of cruise ships allowed through Venice will be cut by 20%.

 

Ships of more than 96,000 tonnes will be banned from the centre of the city from November next year.

 

Prime Minister Enrico Letta's office also announced plans to open up a new canal route to the city - thereby² allowing big vessels³ to enter the city by a kind of back door, the BBC's Alan Johnston reports from Rome.

 

The measures were announced after a meeting between Mr Letta, the mayor of Venice and other local politicians on Tuesday.

 

A spokesman for those who have protested against the ships told Italian media that the measures constitute a first step and that their campaign will go on.

 

Concerns over big ships sailing too close to shorelines have increased since the Costa Concordia cruise liner ran aground off a Tuscan island in January 2012, killing⁴ 32 people.

 

Those who oppose the ships argue that they are grotesquely⁵ out of keeping with the beautiful old city and that they disgorge unsustainable numbers of visitors into the squares and alleyways, our correspondent reports.

 

But there is also a powerful lobby in Venice that favours the cruise ship trade and welcomes the economic benefits it brings, he adds.

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