Gondolas in Venice

 

Building Gondolas

We toured one of the two remaining gondola building facilities in Venice. They primarily maintain gondolas, building one new gondola each year. A gondola lasts about 50 years but needs to be reworked after 25 years. Each is 36 feet long, weighs 550 kilos, and is made of 280 pieces of wood (Ash, elm, walnut, mahogany, etc.), and each has custom decorations. The front metal piece protects the bow and helps balance the boat. It has 6 teeth representing the 6 districts of Venice, a top which is a doge’s hat, and a sweeping S representing the Grand Canal. A basic gondola costs about 35,000 Euros.

Santa Barbera and nearby market boats

On our way walking to the oar artisan, we passed the Church of Santa Barbera. In 1810, Napoleon decommissioned over 70 churches in Venice. This one became a museum but is best known as the library in the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where X marks the spot.

Forcula Artist

We visited the one of the remaining 4 artisans who makes the forcula, the oar lock, and oars. The forcula is made uniquely for each gondolier based on their measurements from foot to knee. It is made of aged walnut and is shaped for the six positions required to manipulate a gondola. The most used position is the notch on top, other positions are for starting, stopping, turning, and moving in narrow areas. It takes about 55 hours of work to create a forcula. We were supposed to take our gondola ride next, but the wind was blowing too strongly.

The First Jewish Ghetto

In the afternoon, we visited the first Jewish Ghetto created in 1516. While Venice has many communities defined by national origin or occupation, the Jewish ghetto, was isolated (originally on one island) with gates that were locked each night. The tallest buildings 7 or 8 stories in Venice (7 and 8 stories) are in the ghetto because the population quickly grew from 700 to 5000 in the first year. The word ghetto comes from “iron cast” since it was created in an area that had iron foundries. Jews weren’t allowed to do labor, so they became doctors, pawn shop owners and bankers. Thus, their start as the world’s financiers.

In the evening, we had traditional appetizers with a spritz apperative. That served well for dinner.