“Squero di San Trovaso”: the ancient art of making boats
Don’t miss the opportunity to visit an authentic Venetian Squero: a real open air museum where you can find the identity of Venice
You can’t say you have really visited Venice if you have not visited a Squero. Today MVM proposes you the “Squero di San Trovaso”, the first stop-over during an itinerary to discover a less well-known and less touristic Venice. So leave your most obvious travel guide, wear comfortable shoes and get ready to check the first entry from your notebook. Let’s just hold hands and go visit together twelve stages (specially selected for you), twelve small priceless gems of beauty chosen to make perfect your experience in Venice.
What is a Squero?
The Squero is an ancient place where traditional Venetian boats are built and repaired.
Probably the name derives from squara [set square], an essential tool for the “Maestro d’ascia”: the artisan who held (and still holds) tricks of the trade. A socially important role if we remember we are not talking about an ordinary city but about a very powerful Maritime Republic (and for pure parochialism we could add “the most powerful” of the time) founding its own hegemony right on the dominion of the seas.
How was it?
The Squeri, generally, were built on a sloping ground to facilitate the launching and hauling of boats. They also had a Teza, a wooden shed that was the real “shipyard” of the Squero, a place also used for the storage of tools. At the time of the Republic it seems that there was a high density of Squeri in the city. Today, unfortunately, only six are counted and that of San Trovaso is certainly one of the best known.
The Squero di San Trovaso
Overlooking the homonymous canal and built before the seventeenth century, it is one of the few examples of the Venetian Squero still operating. Located a few steps from Messner Venice, the Squero di San Trovaso opens its doors to the most curious and attentive visitors who want to visit the city with respect and dedication. Here you will learn how to build a Gondola, the most famous Venetian boat in the world. You will discover that it is entirely handmade, respecting ancient traditional techniques and using eight different qualities of wood.
Pratical information
