{"id":3458,"date":"2026-05-20T12:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museobarcalariana.it\/gioielli\/venetian-gondola\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T10:29:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T10:29:46","slug":"venetian-gondola","status":"publish","type":"gioielli","link":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/gioielli\/venetian-gondola\/","title":{"rendered":"Venetian Gondola"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the jewels of the MBL collection is this <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/it.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gondola\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Venetian gondola<\/a><\/strong>, the oldest gondola in the world with \u201cfelze\u201d and in perfect condition.<br\/>The origin of the name \u201cgondola\u201d is a mystery. Devoto-Oli attributes it to a combination of the ancient Greek term kondura (a type of boat) and the Italian d-ondola-re. Another theory suggests that the word originates from \u201ccimbala\u201d or \u201ccimba,\u201d which in medieval times, in certain eastern regions of the Mediterranean, meant \u201cboat.\u201d<br\/>The first Venetian gondolas date back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries, but it wasn\u2019t until the 18th century that the gondola took on a more structured form, similar to the one we know today. For centuries, it has been a true status symbol throughout Europe. Apparently, there were Venetian gondolas in St. Petersburg as well.<br\/>This example is preserved at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/\">Museo Barca Lariana<\/a><\/strong> is of extraordinary importance: not only is it one of the oldest surviving gondolas, but it is also the best-preserved in its original state.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/><strong>A Venetian gondola built on Lake Como?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toward the end of the 18th century, some Venetian shipwrights moved to Lake Como to meet the demand for gondolas from the local aristocracy. Among these <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/it.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arsenalotto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">small shipbuilders<\/a><\/strong> were the <strong>Taroni<\/strong> family, who later opened one of the most productive and renowned shipyards of the era in <strong>Carate Urio<\/strong>.<br\/>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/it.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stemma_del_Ducato_di_Milano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visconti coat of arms<\/a><\/strong>is clearly visible on the foredeck\u2014a symbol inextricably linked to Milan and its history: we find it on the shield of Milan City Hall, as well as in the logo of the historic automobile manufacturer <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alfaromeo.it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alfa Romeo<\/a><\/strong> &#8230;<br\/>The entire history of this precious gondola is recounted in the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/sala-polifunzionale.html\">Multipurpose Hall<\/a><\/strong> of our museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3462,"parent":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-3458","gioielli","type-gioielli","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gioielli\/3458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gioielli"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/gioielli"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museobarcalariana.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}