Since Venice's emergence around the 8th century AD, the interrelationship of ships, sea and lagoon has been fundamental to the Republic's history. This relationship is most famously celebrated by the ceremony of Lo Sposalizio del Mare - the Marriage with the Sea.

While her great oared galleys were central to Venice's dominance of the Adriatic there was always a flotilla of smaller work craft that sustained day to day life.

 

The most famous of these boats is the gondola; but there remain, for the purposes of sport and the traditions of ceremony, other craft such as the puparin (like the gondola, asymmetrical in construction) the desdotona, an 18-oar boat, the caorlina with 6 oars, the racing gondolini with 2 oars, racing mascareta, again with 2 oars and various sandalos from 5 to 8 metres in length.

However the most distinctive feature of Venetian rowing is its style, standing and facing forward when making the stroke. This is made possible by an oarlock of unique design: the forcola, an exquisitely carved piece of walnut or cherry wood with an open cradle which contains the oar for the main stroke.

Naturally there are many
strokes at the disposal of an accomplished oarsman but it is the graceful curve of the forcola that facilitates their execution, guiding the craft through the complex navigational situations that the intricate lattice work of Venetian waterways daily presents.