Gondolas

The gondola in Venice, Italy: a brief history, origins, evolution, and new rules for construction

The gondola as we know it today is the result of an evolution responding to the need for increased manoeuvrability and practicality. For instance, the original wooden cabin disappeared as tourism spread: the view of Venice from a gondola is so exceptional that it would be a pity to hide it from passengers. Today's issues are the wave motion and the motorboat traffic in the canals. The gondola's structure has been changing through the centuries and, even now, slight changes are being made and new (old?) rules are being introduced regarding construction.

What is the gondola?

A gòndola is a traditional Venetian rowing boat. Gondolas were for centuries the chief means of transportation within Venice and still have a role in public transport, serving as traghètti (ferries) over major canals.

The gondola is propelled by an oarsman (the gondolier) who stands facing the bow and pushes, rather than pulls, a single oar. Contrary to popular belief the gondola is never poled, as the waters of Venice are too deep. A gondola for passengers may have a small open cabin, for their protection against sun or rain. A sumptuary law of Venice required that gondolas should be painted black, and they are customarily so painted now.

It is also worth noting that a gondolier, under Venetian law, must have been born in Venice to practice the profession.

It is estimated that there were several thousand gondolas during the 18th century. There are a few hundred nowadays, most of which are for hire by tourists, while a few serve as traghetti or are in private ownership and use.

The construction of the gondola has continued to evolve until the late 19th century, when motorized boats began to replace gondolas in Venice. A gondola is long and narrow, with an asymmetrical outline to facilitate propulsion with a single oar, and a good deal of rocker (lengthwise curvature) to minimise the area of contact with the water. The oar or rèmo is held in an oar lock known as a fòrcola. The forcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down and rowing backwards. The iron ornament on the front of the boat is called the fèrro. It serves to protect the prow from accidental damage, as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern.

Gondolas are hand made using 8 different types of wood (fir, oak, cherry, walnut, elm, mahogany, larch and lime) and are composed of 280 pieces. The oars are made of beech wood and the left side of the gondola is made longer than the right side to counterbalance the weight of the gondolier.

Venetian tradition dictates that couples must kiss under every bridge for Eternal Love.

First of all, it's a symbol of Venice, an elegant black boat that can be driven easily with a single oar by one man or one... woman? Up until now, no woman has been admitted in the official gondola service: Alexandra Hai and other female candidates have failed to pass the exam. The official reason is inexperience and lack of skill. But everybody knows that admitting a woman to this profession would break a diehard tradition. How do you drive a gondola? As you may recall from endless photographs, the gondolier stands up and turns to the direction of movement: this is called "voga alla veneziana", rowing Venetian style. The oar is supported by the characteristic "forcola", made from a single piece of walnut, like an arm folded at the elbow.

Eleven metres in length, 600 kilos in weight, made with eight different kinds of wood in 280 pieces (the only elements in metal are the "iron" of the head and the "risso" of the stern), the gondola is asymmetric: the left side is larger than the right by 24 cm. The asymmetry makes it inclined on one side. The bottom is flat, so that the gondola can navigate in shallow water, only a few cms. deep.

The iron of the gondola head, used to gain stability by counter-balancing the gondolier's weight, is a mini-map of Venice: the six strips called "pettini" (comb) represent the six "sestieri" (quarters); an additional long strip represents Giudecca Island; the double "S" bending represents the Grand Canal; on top is a stylized dogal horn and, under that, a lunette representing the Rialto bridge. The origin of the name "gondola" is uncertain: it may come from the Latin "cymbula" (little boat) or "cuncula", diminutive of "concha" (shell). It made its first appearance in paintings in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries in works by Gentile Bellini, Vittore Carpaccio, and Giovanni Mansueti. According to documents of the Serenissima Republic (the ancient state of Venice), the gondola was born in the early 1000s. With time, the gondola acquired characteristics that distinguished it as a boat designed for the private transport of persons of a certain rank. Even today, a gondola ride isn't that cheap.

The gondola was not only a means of transportation: a closed cabin ("felze") placed in its centre (not in use nowadays) offered both a shelter from bad weather and privacy for the passengers, who could enjoy reading, food, drink, conversation, or romance without being seen. The dark side is that escaped criminals and kidnappers have favoured the felze. With open cabins, Venetians cooled off on hot summer nights ("fresco") while showing off their finery. The shipyards where gondolas are built are called "squeri" and their workers "squeraroli". Oars and forcole are built by specialists called "remeri" (from "remo", oar). Rare nowadays, the squeri were present all over the city in past centuries, building a huge number of boats and ships for commercial use. The decline of the squeri began with the fall of the Serenissima Republic, defeated by Napoleon in 1797. Later on, new technologies and new materials revolutionised the naval shipyards. In Venice, many squeri dedicated themselves to minor repairs, others became motorboat shipyards, and others closed. Some, of course survive, producing the traditional lagoon-crafts and gondolas.

Nowadays in Venice, it's common to see gondolas used for tourists (called "charterage gondolas", as they are hired), the gondolas for celebrations (weddings), the gondolas "da parada" (or "traghetto") for the quick crossings of the Grand Canal. Their hulls are all black thanks to pitch, which is used for waterproofing. The upper and inside parts may have decorations in gold and coloured velvets and carpets (usually red or yellow): these are the gondolas especially used for marriages or special occasions. By contrast, it seems tawdry and meaningless to see the plastic flower bouquets that sometimes adorn them.