Category: Be Venetian – Archive

Our gondola has been retired, and it will spend its otium in the museum at the Lazzaretto Nuovo, in company with a sandolo buraneo, a gondolino and other traditional Venetian boats.

It is not easy to find a place to keep a boat of the size and age of our gondola, which is rather fragile.

During part of the Covid pandemic the boat has been moored at the Lazzaretto, and not used a lot. The tide and the traffic has caused some damage to the boat, and in the end taking the boat out of the water was the best choice.

A traditional gondola made of wooden planks (as opposed to plywood) weighs about 600kg, so it wasn’t easy, but we managed, and certainly earned our lunch.

This week Be Venetian participated in the filming of a documentary on the Lazzaretto Novo. The island of Lazzaretto Novo is the oldest quarantine station in the world.

All travellers arriving in Venice from the late 1400s were subject to a health check. Those suspected of being infected with the plague were quarantined on the island of Lazzaretto Novo, until they were deemed safe.

A special “plague doctor” performed these health checks. From the early 1600s the plague doctor wore a distinct protective dress, which included a beaked mask.

We participaged in the part of the documentary where the plague doctor travels across the lagoon towards the Lazzaretto Novo island.

The Lazzaretto Novo is now a museum, open for guided visits on weekends.