Gondoliers row boats through the canals of Venice, Italy.
The boats they operate are gondolas, traditional flat-bottomed vessels designed for Venice’s shallow lagoon and narrow waterways. A gondolier normally stands at the stern and propels the boat with a single oar, using a distinctive sweeping technique rather than sitting and rowing like an ordinary recreational boater.
Venice’s canals functioned for centuries as the city’s streets and transport routes. Gondolas once served a much broader range of residents and purposes, but today they are best known for sightseeing and private rides. Their asymmetrical shape helps one standing rower steer efficiently from the rear.
A frequent mix-up is assuming that every boat in Venice is a gondola. The city also uses vaporetti, water taxis, traghetti, cargo boats, and smaller traditional craft. Venice itself is built across numerous islands in a lagoon on Italy’s Adriatic coast, with the Grand Canal forming its best-known waterway.