The Venice Blog

As the CEO of ACTV SpA, the company running the water bus service in the lagoon of Venice as well as the metropolitan bus service in Mestre, recently announced, two and three new vaporetti will be acquired in 2007 and 2008 respectively, replacing the oldest ones in the ACTV fleet. The company’s dockyard near Sant’Elena will be entirely transferred to the Tronchetto, giving the opportunity of revitalizing the east side of the city. Another good news: from spring on, the frequency of Line n° 1, which runs from the Piazzale Roma via the Grand Canal and St. Mark’s to the Lido, will be reduced from 10 to seven minutes, which will hopefully lead to a stress-free ride on the most beautiful street in the world.

Some photos from today’s so-called Regata delle Befane, a traditional rowing along the Grand Canal with members of the Bucintoro rowing club dressed as befane - old women who bring, according to the tradition, gifts on the day of the Epiphany.

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.

Francesco Guardi: The Bucintoro on its way to the Lido

The Bucintoro - a gilded ship used by the Doges to celebrate every year the symbolic marriage of Venice with the sea - was spoiled by Napoleon’s troops after the fall of the Republic of Venice and finally destroyed in the late 1820s. Miraculously, some fragments have survived. Every now and then, Venice discusses a reconstruction of the Doges’ sumptuous ship, but in the first days of October 2006, the possible creation of a dedicated foundation, financed by the local casino and others, made its way to the press. But not everyone wants the Bucintoro back. In today’s Gazzettino, Saverio Pastor, head of Felze, a association of gondola builders and related professionals, argued against the reconstruction, since the construction (traditional or modern?) as well as the locomotion of the ship remain totally unclear. In the days of the Republic of Venice, 168 men powered the 42 oars. As no one is willing to play the role of galley slaves today, a new Bucintoro would just be another motif for tourists, but no cultural gain for Venetians. Other spokesmen would prefer a reconstruction of a merchant vessel, preferredly from the “Golden Days” of 16th century Venice, to be shown in the future marine museum in the Arsenal.