Gondole

The gondole ( gondola in Italian) is a Barque of black color to an oar used in the town of Venice in Italy.

History

The name of gondole is mentioned for the first time in a decree of the Doge Vitale Falier in 1094. But its current aspect goes back partly to the 18th century. The Senate, in load of the go concern, forced in 1630 the black color in order to put a term at the ruinous competition which opposed the Venetian rich person, ambitious to have the boat most richly decorated. The legend allotting the choice of this color to the commemoration of the Peste S is thus without base. Before this regulation, the gondole was carried out by two oarsmen and was not distinguished from the other Venetian boats except the fact that it was used as private means of transport people.

Description

The gondole now used in Venice consists of 280 pieces of wood (oak larch, walnut tree, cherry tree, lime, cedar and plywood) and of two metal parts located in Proue and poop. The boat is 10,80 meters long and 1,38 meters broad for a weight of 600 kilograms. Low and light to be handy, it is propelled by only one oarsman who is held upright with the left back while rowing right-sided, from where the asymmetry of the gondole, modification introduced at the 19th century. The transverse axis is thus shifted towards the line to take account of the weight of the gondolier while the left side is more curved in order to keep a right trajectory.

The single oar consists of wood Indonesia N and measurement 4,20 meters. Punt, it is not fixed, which makes it possible to release it quickly, and rests simply on the forcola , piece of wood generally consisted of drowning, crossed in only one piece of wood and cut according to measurements of the gondolier. The morsi (bit), these eight round notches, are used to row. Each one is used for a precise operation (front walk, step back, short turn, rotation on the spot). The undermined (“horse”), ornament with semi-length of the gondole on the level of the balustrades, represents allegorical figures like hippocampi or a siren.

The fero of prova (Venetian term to indicate the figurehead of the gondole) in the beginning was used to counterbalance the weight of the gondolier. During the 17th century, it acquired a precise symbolic system. The six parallel horizontal bars symbolize the six sestieri (“districts”) of Venice and the bar located behind the island of the Giudecca. The curve symbolizes as for it the Grand Channel. Lastly, the empty space formed by the meeting of the higher figure and the first bar represents the Pont of Rialto.

The squeri build the gondoles while the remeri manufacture the oars and carve the forcola . It takes currently approximately a month to manufacture a gondole, whose standard model costs 20.000 euros.

Use

Today, the gondole is used more only by the tourists. 400 gondoliers have a navigation permit whereas one estimated at 10.000 the number of gondoles to the XVIe century.

Simple: Gondola

Random links: