A picture showing an aerial view of a city shaped like a heart is doing rounds on social media. It is being claimed that the picture shows Venice in Italy.
A user shared the picture on Facebook with a caption, “Heart shaped city Venice, Italy”.
Find the above post here. Similar post here, here and here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the picture and found that the viral picture is morphed.
Firstly, we ran a Google search and found the aerial view of the city on stock image websites like Getty Images and Alamy. The photos proved that Venice is not shaped like a heart.
On putting the picture through Reverse Image Search, we found a post on Facebook that stated that the image is a mirrored aerial view of Venice, Italy. “The image showing an aerial view of heart-shaped Venice is NOT REAL. The image is a mirrored aerial view of Venice, Italy”, the post read.
Another Facebook post credited the picture to @Lennart. We tried to find the user on social media and found the German photographer’s page on Instagram. He had uploaded the same picture on February 14, 2021, with a caption, “BREAKING NEWS! Scientists just discovered that the true City of Love isn’t Paris, but Venice! Swipe to see the scientific proof!* *don’t believe everything you read online. Believe in love. Happy valentine w/ @_lutz_i”
View this post on Instagram
Lastly, we observed the picture carefully and found that the buildings, tomb, bridges and ships on the left are identical to the ones on the right, proving that the picture is mirrored.
Hence, the above information proves that Venice is not shaped like a heart and the picture is edited.