Gondola (boat type)

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Canaletto: Bucintoro and magnificent gondolas
Gondolier when maneuvering
Gondola in the dock

A gondola (Italian: gondola ) is a Venetian type of boat that probably first appeared in the 11th century . It is a narrow boat up to 11 m in length and 1.5 m in width with widely bent ends. Under the traditional, but now out of fashion, amidships canopy (felts) there are seats for two to six people.

history

A thousand years ago the word gondola referred to all flat, keelless boats, as they had already been built by the Romans for travel on shallow rivers. A document from the late 11th century has survived , namely the Privilegium Laureti of October 4, 1094 issued by the Doge Vitale Falier , which freed the residents of Loreo from the obligation to deliver a gondulam to the Doge of Venice . It is unknown whether these words refer to a specific type of boat or just a boat in general and what these boats looked like. In any case, this meant a recurring tax that a number of municipalities had to pay. The boats were called gondole ornate , what the "jewelry" consisted of is unclear. It is the first mention of this type of ship.

From the 12th to the 14th centuries there was a type of boat called scaula or scola , a flat, elongated boat that is said to have got its name after the sole ( solea , sogliola ). Perhaps over time it turned into a gondola . Derivations from Greek / Lat. cymbae / cimbula "small boat, skiff ," or from the Greek. kondu or concula "cup" of kondylion "box" of the account "short" and helas "ship" or KUNTO "drifting rowing, push" are controversial. In 1292 the name for the other important Venetian boat type sàndolo was first handed down in a document . The oldest description of the construction of a gondola is first handed down with the book On the Art of Building Boats by Teodoro de Nicoló from the 14th century. The designs, however, were not completely uniform and changed over the centuries. Originally there were gondolas in all possible colors and the Venetian noble and patrician houses of the time tried to outdo each other in the splendid furnishings of the boats. In order to put a stop to the unbridled ostentatiousness , during Gerolamo Priuli's reign the Senate of Venice passed the Expenditure Act , which was also supported by the Church, in 1562 , which stipulated uniform black equipment for all gondolas - except for those of foreign ambassadors and there were exceptions for festivals . In the 16th century there were more than 10,000 gondolas in the city.

The modern gondola, as it is still in use today, has only existed since the end of the 19th century: a narrow boat 10.83 to 11.10 meters long, 1.38 to 1.42 meters wide, a freeboard (altessa) from 50 to 55 centimeters and with widely bent ends. This construction was developed from 1882 to 1884 by the boat builder Domenico Tramontin. He shortened the boat on the (right) starboard side by about 24 cm, giving it a curvature so that it can be more easily rowed by a person standing on the left behind and rowing on the right. Previously, gondolas were usually rowed by two gondoliers . However, pictorial representations prove that skilled rowers used to drive alone. Whether there were slightly curved constructions before the Tramontin gondola is a matter of dispute among experts. A gondola by Domenico Tramontin - the oldest completely preserved gondola, which can no longer float due to its age - from 1890 is in the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal / Rio della Fornace on Dorsoduro near the traghetto S.Maria del Giglio - S.Gregorio.

Driving technique

Driving technique

The modern gondola is moved forward by a gondolier standing on the rear beak (poppa) (left rear) with only one strap (remo) . The strap, several meters long, lies in a special device, the fork (forcola) , which is inserted into a rectangular opening in the hull on the starboard side (trincarino) . To compensate for the one-sided propulsion , the hull is built asymmetrically along the central axis ; the left side ( port ) is more arched than the right starboard side, so that its contour on the starboard side is about 0.25 m shorter than on the port side. The technique of propulsion of the gondola is similar to that of sculling, with the difference that when sculling the oar is directed aft , whereas the oar of the gondola is dipped sideways into the water.

construction

Gondola shipyard in San Trovaso
Bow fitting

A gondola consists of nine different types of wood that are selected according to weight, age and dryness and serve certain tasks. Oak is used for the two upper planks and for the ribs on the body of the gondola, pine for the floor and foredeck, larch for the sides and aft deck, walnut for the seat and front bench, cherry for the aft bench and for the inclined platform. Elm and fir are used for the inner boards, linden for decorating the bow, ramin is used for the sling rod and the surface of the sling is made of beech wood . The strap fork, called forcola, is made of walnut. The body of a gondola is made up of 280 parts. It takes about five hundred hours to build a gondola. A medium-sized gondola costs an average of 25,000 euros. In 2017, a 30-minute gondola ride without singing cost an average of € 80 during the day and € 100 for 35 minutes in the evening from 7:00 p.m.

In 2005 there were four gondola yards in Venice, one in the Dorsoduro sestiere near San Trovaso, Tramontin on the Rio Ognissanti and Crea in the Centro Nautico on the Giudecca and Roberto dei Rossi, also on the Giudecca, behind the Redentore . The forcole are made in small specialist workshops, one in the Calle Corta Rotta, near S. Zaccaria, the other near the Guggenheim Museum by Saverio Pastor.

In the meantime, more and more shipyards are using plywood to build gondolas , as it is cheaper, more durable and lighter.

Bow fitting

Originally only as a counterweight to the gondolier, today also as an ornament and symbol for the city of Venice , the bow of the light vehicle carries a metal fitting (metal tail ) weighing around 22 kg at the top, the ferro di prua , which is shaped like a horn at the top The fisherman's hat ends, which the Doges wore as headgear in their national costume. Six spikes protrude from below. According to a common interpretation today, these symbolize the six Sestieri (districts) of Venice: San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo, Cannaregio, Castello and Santa Croce. The point pointing backwards should stand for the Giudecca .

Number board

After a German tourist was killed in a boat crash in 2013, the obligation to keep signs with a white number on a black background and retroreflectors was introduced on December 1, 2014 . However, the gondoliers were exempted from the obligation to operate a GPS logger.

Different types of Venetian boats

Sanpierota - A multi-purpose boat suitable for sailing, rowing and mostly visible with an outboard motor.

Ballotina - a gondola-like boat with a different bow fitting, formerly a police boat.

Desdotona - boat rowed by 18 men / women, with which the parades on the water are opened.

Caorlina - Popular regatta boat for six rowers from the Caorle.

Gondolino - small gondola specially designed for regattas , very fast, for two rowers.

Mascerata da regata - Popular boat for women's regattas . Typical narrow hull.

Sandolo s'ciopon - At eight meters in length, the smallest boat in the lagoon, built in earlier times for duck hunting.

Sandolo Buranello - Older than the gondola, but a ride is cheaper because there is no duck (professional association).

Sandolo puparin - At nine to ten meters in length, the largest Sandolo and, like the gondola, built asymmetrically.

gallery

See also

literature

  • Quirino Brazolo: La Gondola, fasi della sua costruzione . Treviso 1979
  • Vittorio Cossato: I Traghetti Veneziani . Venezia 1956
  • Giovanni Caniato: Arte di far Gondole . Venezia 1985
  • Gino Damerini: L'Evoluzione della Gondola . Venezia 1956
  • Carlo Donatelli: La Gondola, una Straordinaria Architettura Navale . Venezia 1990
  • Gastone Geron: La Gondola in Squero . Venezia 1956
  • Timothy Holme: Gondola Gondolier . London 1971
  • Alessandro Marzo Magno: La Carrozza di Venezia. Storia della Gondola . Venice 2008
  • Ginafranco Munerotto: Gondole - Be Secolo di Evoluzione nella Storia e nell'Arte . Venezia 1994
  • Giuseppe dell'Orso: Venezia e la Gondola . Venezia 1970
  • Constantin Parvulesco: gondolas. Königswinter 2007 (Original French Boulogne-Billancourt 2006)
  • Guido Perocco: La Gondola nella Pittura . Venzia 1956
  • GB Rubin de Cervin: The Evolution of the Ventian Gondola . London 1956
  • Roberto Tramontin: L'arte della gondola - The art of the gondola. In: Stefan Pfänder, Monica Scholz-Zappa (Ed.): Why Venice's gondolas go straight ahead. In collaboration with Maria Gross, Jacob Henkelmann, Clara Srehlke and Sebastian Wisser. Berlin 2008
  • Eugenio Vittoria: The gondolier and his gondola. Technical and bibliographical advice from Maurizio Vittoria, translation by Ulrike Kindl. Venice 1979, 2nd edition 1981 (Original Italian Venezia 1979)

Individual references / comments

  1. Beatrice Rizzi: I Fradei di Loreo. Storia di una confraternita bassopolesana , tesi di laurea, Venice 2012, p. 8 ( online ).
  2. The first mention in the 11th century also claims the Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1973, Vol. 22, p. 965.
  3. Gianjacopo Fontana: Occhiate storiche a Venezia , Venice 1854, p. 310, note 1. However, one might consider this statement from the 19th century to the 16th century to be exaggerated.
  4. Italy: Dispute of the Gondoliers ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Das Erste March 3, 2007, author Michael Kadereit, accessed April 12, 2008
  5. http://orf.at/stories/2257068/ Revolution in Venice: If the gondolas have numbers, ORF.at of December 10, 2014

Web links

Commons : Gondola (boat type)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Venetian Boats  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files