Venice’s First Female Gondolier

Venice, the city of love, is known for its centuries-old traditions and customs, such as the Venice Carnival. But sometimes old traditions are also cast aside and adapted to the changes brought by the passage of time. This was the case in Venice last week, when a male stronghold that had lasted for nearly 900 years finally fell.

Visitors soon staying at hotels in Venice on a city break will see a (still) unfamiliar sight on the city’s canals, because one of the last male strongholds in Italy has fallen in the lagoon city of Venice: Giorgia Boscolo, 24, has passed her final exam and, after nine centuries of male dominance, can now call herself Venice’s first female gondolier and ferry tourists through the city’s canals by gondola. There is one small catch: to buy her own gondola, the young gondoliera and mother of two still needs a license. Until then, she can step in for her male colleagues whenever needed. A year ago, Giorgia Boscolo became the first woman to pass the difficult gondolier’s exam in Venice. She then had to complete a kind of “probationary year,” working as a “co-gondolier” alongside her male colleagues for 12 months.

Although male dominance among Venice’s gondoliers is now a thing of the past, her colleagues are proud of the young gondoliera, especially Aldo Rosso, who until recently served as president of the Venice Gondolier Association. Venice He described the appointment of the first officially recognized female gondolier as “a milestone in the history of gondola navigation in Venice.”