Squero di San Trovaso

This guide to the Squero di San Trovaso in Venice explains why this working gondola yard looks like an Alpine chalet dropped onto a canal, tracing it back to the mountain carpenters of Cadore who built it their own way in the sixteen hundreds. It walks through how a gondola is still shaped by hand today from eight different woods, each chosen for strength, flex, color or weight, and the centuries-old law behind its uniform black paint. Stand across the narrow canal for the best view of the ramps and workshop.