A novel technique to see a hidden facet of Venice

Smaller than gondolas, “sandoli” are historical boats which were utilized by on a regular basis Venetians for hundreds of years. At this time, they whisk travellers to quiet corners Venice the place different boats cannot go.

It’s 09:00 in Venice and a peaceable silence blankets town’s slim streets and canals. Day-trippers start to descend on the lagoon, whereas Luca Padoan leans towards a wall close to the Rio della Misericordia, one of many canals chopping by the previous Jewish Ghetto. As he watches the neighbourhood come alive from behind his sun shades, a couple of vacationers strategy, cautiously asking if they will {photograph} the handmade sandolo boat moored to his left.

 “I’ve all the time defined that this isn’t a gondola, however its progenitor,” Padoan mentioned, stroking its oar.

Whereas Venice is synonymous with the various ornate gondolas that ply its canals, only a few folks know in regards to the boat’s lesser-known relative, the sandolo, that when populated Venice’s waterways. Characterised by a metal “curl” on the prow and sometimes painted midnight black, these flat-bottomed rowing boats have been traditionally used to navigate the shallow waters of the lagoon and to move items and other people from Venice to the Italian mainland.

“If you don’t perceive the origin of town and its evolution, you can not clarify the historic significance of the sandolo. The common depth of the lagoon [in the past was incredibly shallow]. With a traditional boat, you could not get there,” defined Valentino Scarpa, who oversees the 9 stazi (stations) the place sandolo boats proceed to hold Venetians and vacationers by the canals at this time.

The earliest written references of sandoli (the plural of sandolo) date again to 1292. Not like gondolas, which have all the time been used for transportation, sandoli have been traditionally used for fishing, racing and searching in addition to ferrying folks and constructing supplies all through the lagoon. Sandoli are additionally barely shorter, wider and fewer ornate than their extra standard counterparts. Gondolas sometimes have two pointed ends: an S-shaped bow depicting the sinuous design of the Grand Canal that crosses town, and an iron stern. In distinction, sandoli have a painted prow; a flat, open stern; and are much less lavish.

These bodily variations serve a couple of sensible functions. In a gondola, the rower sometimes stands on the facet, whereas a sandolo’s symmetrical backside permits the rower to face in the course of the boat. This centralised rowing stance permits for extra balanced weight distribution, which will increase pace, and its symmetrical design permits the sandolo to hold heavier masses than a gondola with much less danger of tipping. 

Like gondolas, sandoli are normally rowed with one oar, however they can be rowed utilizing two oars on the similar time. This method, referred to as voga alla vaesana in Venetian, was traditionally utilized in areas of the lagoon like Caorle, Marano and Grado to observe valliculture, a medieval fish-farming methodology pioneered within the Venetian lagoon.

“Traditionally, each household owned a sandolo. It was the means used within the metropolis to hold folks round, to obtain meals, to fish, and to move supplies,” mentioned sandolo rower Livio Bon.

However Scarpa defined that as Venetians started to understand that rowing a gondola was simpler than rowing a sandolo, these historical boats began to get replaced by gondolas.

“It is clear that having the ability to go along with two oars [in a sandolo] is an evolution as a result of it permits you to go quicker. Nevertheless, the gondola, being asymmetrical, is extra manageable and simpler to row in small canals,” Scarpa defined. “The gondola [became] increasingly standard, resulting in the authorisation of extra gondolas. Because of this, the gondolier class has grow to be extra dominant, and the variety of sandoli within the lagoon has decreased.”

At this time, solely 20 sandolisti (sandolo rowers) are left in Venice, in comparison with 433 gondolieri (gondola rowers). But, in accordance with the few remaining sandolisti, driving by the canal in a sandolo is among the most original methods to expertise Venice’s historical past. Not solely do most sandolisti consider its design impressed the gondola and it holds a nostalgic place amongst many Venetians, it may possibly additionally discover areas of town the place gondolas cannot go.

Whereas gondolas are allowed to go by the areas the place the 9 stazi are positioned, solely sandoli are permitted to enterprise by them. Driving in a sandolo due to this fact provides vacationers a singular alternative to discover less-crowded historic landmarks the place gondolas aren’t permitted, such because the Jewish Ghetto, the Ponte dei Greci and the Ponte dell’Olio, amongst different areas. What’s extra, as a result of a sandolo is shorter than a gondola, it may possibly navigate narrower canals to less-explored pockets of town.

“It’s a purely conventional job, handed down from era to era, and that tells Venice’s story,” mentioned Chiara Favaro, the daughter of a sandolo rower. “If you find yourself on a [sandolo], you see town by different eyes – a hidden Venice, the genuine one. The sandolista can let you know issues {that a} vacationer information does not know as a result of the tales are sometimes handed down from grandfather to father to son.”

Such was the case with Padoan. “I began after I was seven years previous with my grandfather, who had an identical boat with which we used to go fishing. [Now] I’ve been doing this job for 26 years,” the 53-year-old mentioned, decreasing himself onto his sandolo’s cushioned seat. “From November onwards, I dedicate myself to the boat’s upkeep: I repaint it whereas my mum fixes the cushions. Ours is a household enterprise.” Then in March, with the arrival of spring, it is time to row once more.

Like Padoan, Scarpa was additionally launched to the commerce at a younger age, spending his weekends from the age of seven studying learn how to row together with his father. After attending college, he returned to Venice to refine the craft.

At this time, not everyone seems to be prepared to proceed what has historically been a household enterprise. Whereas this generational pastime has pale, it has additionally opened the door for aspiring rowers whose households have not traditionally been sandolisti to enter the commerce.

The Municipality of Venice holds competitions for aspiring sandolisti to use for licenses as a way to be part of on this occupation. To qualify, candidates should full an expert navigation course, in addition to go a rowing and a swimming check.

“First I repaired family home equipment, then I labored as a taxi driver after which I went again to repairing home equipment,” one other sandolista, Mariano Pozzobon says, wiping his face with a blue handkerchief after getting back from a journey with some vacationers. “I acquired right here by friendships, and now I’ve been doing this job for 30 years”, he concludes.

Different sandolisti agree that there is no different job they’d fairly do, and that working these quintessentially Venetian vessels is greater than only a occupation.

“Every boat is a world of its personal. It [was] a household job the place love is handed on. It’s not merely a job with an financial return, however a ardour,” Scarpa says. “It is a job that you simply solely discover right here: and doing it makes you are feeling much more Venetian.”

“When [tourists] get off, they must be ecstatic. They must really feel the sound of the water of the canals of their ears, the breeze of their necks, the boat swaying underneath the burden of the motive force. They need to breathe magnificence,” Bon mentioned, whereas serving to a French couple settle into his sandolo. “The sandolo permits you to totally savour the historical past of Venice.”