Squero Padovano

In Venice squero is the boatyard for the building, maintenance and shelter for traditional boats such as the sandolo, mascareta, puparin, and, of course, the most popular gondola. Even in Padua, city of waters, as in Venice, there were once squeri overlooking the waterways.
Within the walls of the ancient city, in a hidden place to rediscover, we have improvised our squero. Here we're trying to share a story that has been lost over fifty years ago.

Sunday 15 February 2015

A boat for hunting, but not only ....

"Fisolera" is the name of a light boat used in the past for hunting. "Fisolo" is the venetian name given to a bird still widespread in the lagoon.
In Venice we also know the Sacca Fisola, the island lying at the western end of the Giudecca.

Fisolo (Svasso piccolo/cornuto its name in Italian, Podiceps nigricollis/auritus the latin name).

Fisolera, from PIETRO BERTELLI. Engraving. Diversarum Nationum Habitus, Padova 1594. Rovigo, Accademia dei Concordi. 

Hunters on a Fisolera. Hunters on the lagoon, Pietro Longhi, 1760. Fondazione Querini-Stampalia, Venice

Fisolere in regatta. Print of Coronelli (Correr Museum, Venice). 

Another famous hunting scene with boats in the lagoon.
Vittore Carpaccio, 1790. Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA (detail):

Enlarged detail of the same painting: