Throwing rice at newlyweds and feeding the pigeons of St Mark’s Square with bird seed will become illegal under new laws designed to rid Venice of its “unbearable” flocks.

Massimo Cacciari, the mayor, said that while throwing rice at weddings was a longstanding Italian tradition to wish newly married couples fertility and happiness, it also had the unfortunate side-effect of feeding pigeons. These pests were a threat to human health and were destroying the city’s Renaissance and Baroque architecture, he said.

The mayor was supported by Marco Agostini, the chief of police, who said: “Throwing rice at the bride and groom brings hordes of pigeons who then wait around until the next ceremony. The situation has become unbearable.”

An estimated 120,000 pigeons nest in colonies in Venice’s palazzos and churches, twice the resident human population. Feeding pigeons on St Mark’s Square has long been a tourist attraction. However, Venice officials say that the pigeons are damaging buildings with their corrosive droppings and are attacking the marble and stucco façades with their beaks, including the ornate St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace.

Renata Codello, Superintendent of Architectural and Cultural Heritage in Venice, said that the pigeons pecked at the façades to get at scraps of food and bird seed blown inside by the breeze. The authorities had tried lacing bird seed with contraceptive chemicals, to no apparent effect.

A recent city council report said pigeons were attacking the façades “like kamikaze pilots” in scenes resembling Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film The Birds. The council banned residents from leaving grain or bread out for pigeons ten years ago, while still allowing 18 licensed street vendors to sell bird seed on St Mark’s Square.

However, Mr Cacciari said that this too would end, and the city authorities were offering to help to find the vendors “alternative employment”.

He said that a decree banning bird seed sales and rice throwing at Palazzo Cavalli, the register office, would take effect in the next few days.

He added: “Enough is enough. There is no other way. The studies we have commissioned show the pigeons are causing incalculable damage to our artistic and architectural heritage.”

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