VENICE AND ROWING: A BOND THROUGH THE HISTORY
Did you know that…?
Venice is the city of mystery as well as is a mystery of a city! The city that floats. How is that even possible that such a beauty could actually exist? It’s very hard to answer. Venice is the result of a dynamic process that illustrates the interaction between people and the ecosystem of their natural environment over time. Human interventions show high technical and creative skills in the realization of the architectural works in the lagoon area.
Did you know that Venice itself was built on over 100 individual islands? To consolidate the foundations, 25 meters long wooden poles were planted in the unstable soil of the lagoon. Surrounded by saline mud, the wood petrified, forming the perfect foundation for the construction of the city. These temporary settlements gradually became permanent and the initial refuge of the land-dwelling peasants and fishermen became a maritime power.
The isolation of the lagoons forced the inhabitants to take alternative ways of moving: in this context the Venetian Rowing was born, around the Vth century.
A few pills on Venetian Rowing
Naval architecture was initially imported directly from the Roman provinces, although the particular environment soon imposed a change of technique, that has survived to this day.
The absence of an accentuated wave motion, the reduced depths, and mudflats imposed a flat bottom, without a keel, easy to maintain, which would allow the boat to be easily put out of the water on sandy shores in case of emergency.
There are essentially three types of rowing: the main one with a single rower and a single oar that acts both as a propeller and a rudder, with a single rower and two crossed oars and the one with several rowers alternating, usually in even numbers, on both sides of the boat. In all cases, the main role is of whoever is at the stern.
Venetian Rowing: a holy bond
The Venetian rowing technique differs from the more common one (which is seated) because the rower is standing, facing forward, with the oars resting in the typical oarlocks called fórcole. The use of a single oar, with the consequent halved lateral dimensions, was essential due to the narrowness of the Venetian canals.
From the birth of the city of Venice, everything was done with boats. It was essential to move from one side to the other through those waterways that are the canals, for transport, for fishing, for defense from enemies.
Without the knowledge and dissemination of this nautical heritage, we prevent generations to come to fully experience what all these facets mean for Venice and its history.
This is our project: let the tourist who comes to Venice witness all these amazing features, by practicing an activity that is indissolubly bonded to the history of Venice.