Our Venetian Boats: a Batela, not a Gondola!
You’ll learn the Venetian rowing style in this rare, traditional craft called the Batela a coda di gambero, the shrimp-tailed batela. Once one of the most numerous in the city and throughout the lagoon, it’s the perfect craft for first-timer Venetian rower: comfortable, spacious and stable!
You can easily spot these traditional, hand-crafted “shrimp-tailed” boats in many paintings by Carpaccio, Guardi, and Canaletto, but these all-purpose boats began to disappear quickly after WWII with the advent of the private outboard motor.
Operating four of the ten replicas in existence today (we had two of them built ourselves), Row Venice had has put this splendid craft back in primo piano, at center of the Venetian water-stage.
These batele are not too big and not too small; so whether you’re an expert sculler or have never seen water, you’ll find these wonderful craft spacious, comfortable, and stable.
