The Venice Blog

Last sunday, the Venice blog took advantage of the fine weather and took a gondola ride throuth the sestiere of San Polo, starting from the franciscan church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, via the Rio di San Polo and the Rio delle Do Torre and finally the Grand Canal. This route is to be preferred over Rialto-Rio S. Luca-Rio de la Fava-Rialto for the quality of the monuments and the lighting. I selected a gondolier, whose equipment was entirely black and  therefore historically “correct”. As is generally known,  the Venetian Senate prohibited  colourful gondolas as early as in 1562 to  fight the patricians’ ever growing pomposity, but nowadays, some gondoliers toady with gondolas having red and golden decoration.

Especially while gliding nearly soundless along the San Polo canal, I encountered new astonishing perspectives, since most of the buildings, such as the gothic Bernardo palace or Corner palace, have their main facade and entrance on a canal, so I  asked the gondolier to slow down on several occasions. A ride by boat is the only way to perceive Venetian architecture correctly. Finally turning into the Grand Canal near Ca’Pesaro was a great experience of a sudden vastness, with the palaces on the north bank, especially the so-called Ca’ d’Oro, were illuminated by the lutescent winter sun. Especially in the winter months, with the city being calm, a gondola ride is a outstanding esthetic experience, and entirely different from the daily use of the traghetto gondola across the Grand Canal.