When one thinks about Venice, the first thing that comes to his mind is Gondolas, not museums, not statues nor its food. Gondolas are to Venice as the Colisseum is to Rome and the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.

Gondolas have been one of the means of transportation in Venice for the last 500 years or so. Although at first Gondolas were the means of tranportation throughout Venice, today they are mostly used by tourist and some of them are private property of the gondoliers.

About a thousand Gondolas were in use around the year 1500. Today, more or less there are around a couple of hundred. Today, Gondolas are somewhat different from the first generation, centuries ago. It is believed that "Gondola" was first mentioned in 1904 in an official document.

The original name that was mentioned was "gondulam". The named is believed to come from the Latin word "cymbula" (little boat) or "cuncula" a small shell, but these are only theories with no official evidences.

Because there is no useful documentation to reconstruct its appearance, some of the first pictorial drawings of gondolas that gave us an idea of how they looked like came in the late XV° century.

They have been modified throughout the centuries from its structure to its finishings. The modifications were a process of evolution and adaptation to different means.

The first images of Gondolas were seen in the paintings of Bellini, Carpaccio and Mansueti. At first, Gondolas didn't differ themselves from other boats. At the end of the XVI° century, Gondolas started to be slimmer and longer than the other boats.

Some of the Gondolas already had "felze", the covering or roof of the Gondola that gave it an appearance as a water carriage.

These types of gondolas were probably for the wealthy people.
Throughout the centuries, gondolas kept modifying and in the XVIII° century, they started to look like the ones we recognize today.
The black, long boat consists of 280 pieces, and they use eight different types of wood. The lenght of the Gondola is 11 metres (36 ft) and the weight is 600 kilos (1,320 lbs). Thanks to its asymmetrical outline, it can be driven with lightness and easiness by a single man with a single oar.

The Gondolier (oarsman) under a Venetian law, must have been born in Venice to become a Gondolier. The oar is held in an oar lock known as forcola.

This oar has a complicated shape that allows the Gondola to be steer precisely.
It is useed for going forward, turning, slowing down and rowing in reverse. The front ornament known as Ferro has to purposes besides being an ornament; one purpose, is to protect the front from an accidental damage, and the other purpose is to counterweight the front with the back as the Gondolier steers in the back.

A local legend promises eternal love to couples that kiss in the Gondola under every bridge in Venice, especially the "Ponte dei Sospiri".