One of Venice’s core elements definitely is the Gondola, a traditional rowing boat that is perfect to sail across the Venetian lagoon.
Visiting the city of Venice by booking a tour by Gondola is an experience that needs to be done at least once in a lifetime, so… what are you waiting for? Book a Venice Private Tour with us!
The Gondolier
The Gondola is quite a particular boat: it’s only 11 meters long and it weighs more than 600 kg but it surprisingly can be steered by just one person, typically called “gondolier”. This is because this boat is made asymmetrically which causes it to always lean toward one side. This allows the gondolier to only use one oar!
Becoming a gondolier is not so easy! You must attend a rowing school and get to know everything about the physics behind the gondola, not to mention the fact that you must improve your physical strength and learn foreign languages to deal with tourists.
How a Gondola is built
This boat is also very unique because of the materials it is made of. The gondola is made out of 8 different wood types and some iron to make the characteristic “six teeth” at the bow of the Gondola.
Compared to the past, it is asymmetric on the longitudinal axis, the one that crosses the boat from stern to bow, with a deviation of about 24 cm to the right: it is more easily maneuverable for the gondolier.
The oar is the helm of the gondola built in beech wood and the fork is the base of the oar made of walnut wood.
For its construction are used 8 different types of wood:
- Oak for the construction of the sides
- Fir for the bottom;
- Cherry for the trasti;
- Elm for the ribs;
- Walnut for the frames;
- Lime for the succhetto;
- Larch;
- Mahogany.
It consists of 280 different pieces.
Gondola customization and features
Each boat is customized according to the physical characteristics of the gondolier that will affect the driving position, the oar and the fork. In addition, each boat differs in the different decorations and carvings.
The Gondola can also sail in not-so-deep water thanks to its flat bottom which is very helpful considering the continuous changing of tides in the city of Venice.
Nowadays it’s one of the biggest tourist attractions in Venice but when the gondolas were invented they were actually used as the main way to get around the city mainly by richer people.
