2011: The end of gondola makers in Venice?

A moment of alarm in the lagoon city of Venice: Could a landmark of this city, built on piles, disappear from its cityscape this year? The surprising culprits are said to be the many tourists who come to holiday homes, holiday apartments and hotels in Venice year after year, bringing large sums of money into the city’s coffers.

The “endangered species” in Venice in question is the guild of gondola makers. To continue their centuries-old craft, Venice’s gondola makers simply need enough space for their workshops and boatyards—space that is becoming increasingly scarce in the lagoon city, as the available land is being used to create facilities for tourists. To protect what is probably the city’s most important craft, as well as its cultural heritage, Venice would need to guarantee space for every “Maestro d'Ascia” (“master of the axe,” as gondola makers in Venice are known). There is another problem: In Venice, it is easier to obtain a license for a pizzeria or a guesthouse, since these cater to mass tourism. Gondola makers face higher bureaucratic hurdles, which are also very time-consuming, to obtain a permit from the city.

Some gondola makers in Venice have now urged city council officials to address the problems and preserve a piece of Venice for the future. They have also put forward a proposal for how to tackle the issue: workshops for gondola makers could be set up in a boatyard on the island of Giudecca that has been unused for some time.