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The Italian government has banned large cruise ships from passing through the center of Venice, declaring the surrounding lagoon a national monument after years of international outcry over the liners causing permanent harm to the fragile city, CBS News reports.

"It is not going too far to define this day as historic," said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, adding that the decree would go into effect on August 1.

"Ships will no longer pass in front of St. Mark's or the Giudecca Canal," he said, referring to the route they traditionally take through the center of the city. 

The law applies to ships weighing more than 25,000 tons, measuring more than 590 feet long, or more than 115 feet high.

Cruise ships, which returned in recent weeks after pandemic restrictions had kept them out for more than a year, are well known to destabilize Venice's delicate foundation.

But Italy's government has waffled for years over reigning in the cruise ships, as they generate billions of euros in revenue for an economy that thrives on tourism, as well as employs thousands in the local cruise industry.

The decree issued on Tuesday seeks to safeguard those workers, offering to pay them lay-off benefits as well as compensating the cruise industry for having to cancel trips. The government's decision came just days before UNESCO, the United Nations heritage body, was poised to examine putting Venice on its endangered list at its plenary session on July 16 to 31.