Venice - Grand Canal Gondolas, Venice

by Neale And Judith Clark

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Venice - Grand Canal Gondolas, Venice

Artist

Neale And Judith Clark

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Photograph - Photography

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VENICE Grand Canal Gondolier - Rowing a gondola full of tourists on a gondola ride on the Grand Canal Venice Italy EU Europe - this picture is taken from the famous Rialto bridge

The Grand Canal (Canal Grande, Canal Grando) is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.Because most of the city's traffic goes along the Canal rather than across it, only one bridge crossed the canal until the 19th century, the Rialto Bridge
The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner and also acts as the rudder. The uniqueness of the gondola includes it being asymmetrical along the length making the single-oar propulsion more efficient.
Their primary role today, however, is to carry tourists on rides at fixed rates. There are approximately 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice and a similar number of boats, down from the thousands that travelled the canals centuries ago.
The profession of gondolier is controlled by a guild, which issues a limited number of licenses (approximately 400), granted after periods of training (400 hours over six months) and apprenticeship, and a major comprehensive exam which tests knowledge of Venetian history and landmarks, foreign language skills, and practical skills in handling the gondola.Such skills are necessary in the tight spaces of Venetian canals. Gondoliers dress in a blue or red striped top, red neckerchief, wide-brimmed straw hat and dark pants. A gondolier can earn the equivalent of up to US$150,000 per year

For centuries, the gondola was a major means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice.

Alamy reference KE19J4

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January 6th, 2020

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