The gondola of yesterday...
For over a thousand years, the gondola has been the quintessential Venetian watercraft, and has become something of a symbol of the city of lovers. Perfectly suited to navigating the narrow, shallow canals, it was once used primarily for transporting people, as a means of getting between different points in the lagoon or the city (which then had many more canals than today and fewer bridges). It is said that Venetian women owe their noble allure and nonchalant gait to the fact that they had to go shopping by gondola. Indeed, to drive a gondola properly, the gesture must be reserved, indolent and sensual. On the other hand, when Venetian nobles took up the habit of traveling in their own gondolas with their own gondolier, this character became a sort of confidant, taking part in all their travels, even the most clandestine.
... and today
Nowadays, no one rows a boat anymore. Progress has come and gone, and this craft is used mainly by tourists. Venetians, however, continue to sail, not to get around, but to relax, and above all to preserve tradition. Several times a year, regattas are organized for vintage boats. The winners of these races always belong to the same Venetian families, who make a point of winning them. Today, voga (the art of rowing a gondola) is a real discipline, with an ever-growing number of enthusiasts. Gondolas play a key role in the city's major events, including the Regata Storica in September : they open the parade, with the city's highest political and religious representatives, as well as a number of ambassadors and important guests, on board. The gondola also makes a comeback in Venetian life for weddings, for which there are bridal gondolas adorned with flowers. For the occasion, the gondolier changes out of his work uniform (striped sweater, black pants and boater) and dresses exclusively in white. For funerals, too, the funeral gondola, decorated with golden angels, goes all the way to the San Michele cemetery. Otherwise, Venetians continue to take the traghetti, the collective two-oar gondolas that cross the Grand Canal at seven points around the city, on a daily basis. Available to locals and tourists alike, riding a traghetto gondola remains the best way to experience the pleasure of sailing a gondola without breaking the bank. It's worth noting that, although regulated by the municipality, gondola packages are very expensive.
The caste of the gondoliers
Today, gondoliers still form a "caste", with the trade still handed down from father to son. While the gondola, the symbol of Venice, has mostly become a tourist attraction, there are still 400 of them plying the canals of the lagoon city. And for the record, it's said that gondoliers used to sing to announce themselves at the entrance to a canal, to avoid having the contents of chamber pots dropped on their heads.
Some technical details
The origin of the word gondola remains unclear. It seems to derive from the Latin cymbula, small boat, but other sources suggest that its root is more likely to be the Greek word kondulion, a low-sounding box, or kountélas, a boat of modest length.
The shape we know today was once very different from that of today. Technical innovations over the centuries have resulted in a lighter boat with familiar lines. The gondola is asymmetrical, 11 m long and weighs 8 tons. One side is 24 cm wider than the other. As a result, the gondola naturally heels or lurches to starboard, but the gondolier, who stands at the stern with one leg forward, uses his oar to steer the gondola in the right direction. Made from 280 pieces of wood, custom-built to the gondolier's weight, the gondola's bottom is flat, its shape stretched and slightly asymmetrical, enabling him to correct the gondola's direction, sailing with a single oar. This oar rests on the forcola, in eight possible positions (to give the gondola different directions). Carved from a single block of wood, it can be made from pear, cherry or walnut. At the tail of the gondola is the ferro, a decorative element made up of six teeth representing the six sestieri of Venice: Castello, Santa Croce, Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, San Polo and San Marco. The seventh tooth, on the opposite side, represents Giudecca. The curvature of the iron above the teeth is in the shape of the doge's headdress, symbolizing his power and protection over the city. It is protected by seven coats of black waterproof paint (a secret recipe!). In the past, the central part of the gondola, where the seats are located, was fitted with a small cabin, the felze, during the cold season, a useful trick that provided protection from the cold, but also from the gondolier's indiscretions..
Gondolas weren't always black. In the past, these beautiful boats were clad in the most sparkling colors. The nobility made such a show of luxury of them that the Repubblica Serenissima was forced to issue a decree in 1633 banning such displays of wealth. Since then, gondolas have played the sober card.
Gondolas continue to be built in the few squeri, the last shipyards to survive the advent of the vaporetto. Among the few still in operation is San Trovaso, the best-known, and on the rio Muti in Cannareggio, in San Pietro di Castello, in Dorsoduro, the squero Tramontin, famous for the longevity and beauty of its gondolas. These curious structures of stone and smoke-blackened wood still often stand isolated in Venetian urbanism, their wide ramps stretching out towards the water to let the boats glide along. With the same technical skill of yesteryear, here wood is matured, bent and calfed... In short, gondolas are still being repaired and built, in the hope that this legendary know-how will endure for as long as possible.
