How to Become a Gondolier

Nothing symbolizes Venice like the long, black, flat-bottomed gondolas that serenely float up and down the canals. The people who power and guide these craft are called gondoliers, and the training they receive is anything but easy. Here's how they got one of the most romantic jobs in the world.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Gondolier willing to mentor you
• Gondola for practice purposes
• Academy of Gondoliering
• Gondolier Association

1. Find a mentor willing to tutor you. As an outsider, this could be the most challenging step, since competition for a gondolier's job is intense, and there are only about 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice.
2. Attend a school to learn how to maneuver the gondola. The most famous place to do this is at the Academy of Gondoliering in Venice.
3. Practice, practice, practice! Steering a gondola in the canals of Venice is a very physically demanding task. You must learn the techniques to get your gondola off of a sandbar, how to back it up, and most importantly, how to avoid bumping into canal walls and jolting your passengers. Being able to do all of this expertly could take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years.
4. Take the exam offered by the Gondolier Association. You will be expected to smoothly navigate the canals of Venice with judges from the Association on board your gondola to evaluate your performance. Any mistakes at all, no matter how small, will cause you to fail your exam.
5. Get your license to be an official gondolier. Singing not required.

Tips & Warnings

• Although it is highly unlikely that you will get a gondolier's license if you are not born into a gondoliering family, don't count yourself out as a gondolier if you are not male and Venetian. Alexandra Hai, a German woman, won her court case to be accepted as a gondolier in April 2007.
• Most gondolier licenses are passed down through the family. A gondolier's license traditionally goes to the widow after the gondolier dies, and she passes it on to another family member. Since gondoliers are among the highest paid people in Venice (about $150,000 per year in 2007), this is a very valuable license to hold.
• What's the story about that fancy curvy thing on the bow? It's called a ferro. Supposedly, the S-curve represents Venice's Grand Canal, the six strips below the top curve represent the city's six sestieri, and the rounded top is the same shape as the Doge's hat.
• Interested in learning how to be a gondolier? Call Venice's Academy of Gondoliering at 011 ([phone]. When calling internationally (outside of the U.S. and Canada), substitute "011" with "00."

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