VENICE MASTER ARTISANS: GONDOLAS & MASKS

It won’t take long to reach Dorsoduro district and get off at Roberto Tramontin yard, one of the four surviving boatyards in town.

It is popularly known as Squero, a term deriving from technical tools used daily by apprentices.

Gondolas are still manufactured on the site according to rules handed over from generation to generation.

Expert boat makers will tell us about Tramontin family and the founder Domenico, who started the business in 1884, a few decades after the Unification of Italy.

Raw materials, measures, proportions, shape, and color of the gondola are based on a set of rules agreed by the Guild of Gondola makers.

Its unique asymmetrical design fits the gondolier demand and Venice peculiar features: a city with 150 canals, low bridges, shallow saltwater, and daily tides.

We suggest you to interact with the master artisan and get acquainted with the curiosities and the secrets of this fascinating job.

Then we proceed on foot to San Polo district to visit an old mask workshop.

During a demo led by a skilled craftsman, you will learn about Carnival, “Commedia dell’Arte” played in local theatre, the history of masks, their use, and why they differ from one another.

Discover how to make and decorate paper-maché masks with bright colors, or by applying gorgeous gold foil ornaments.

Have fun and book right now “Venice.Masks and velvets tour“.