Traditions of Venice
We live in a world in which technological advances result in changes in the way we live. When our way of living changes so do our culture and our traditions. It is easy to see this happening all around us every day and it is no different in Venice. Yes of course, we all try to keep these traditions going for as long as possible but sometimes these traditions that we hold so dear to us slip away. But then other times keeping those traditions alive makes a person or a city what it is. Venice is a city that must keep up with modernization in order to keep up with the world, however, they have not yet given up on some of their most precious traditions, such as glass blowing and gondolas. By seeing how strongly the Venetians hold on to their traditions it makes you appreciate your own traditions and reminds you of some of the traditions you have lost.
Today, we visited the island of Giudecca to see the traditional glass blowing of Murano. The craftsman started by dipping a long hollow metal rod into hot liquid glass, which looked like an orange ball on the end of the rod, and he started to spin it. To my amazement, he blew into the rod and was able to expand the glass without it breaking or forming a hole. Then he used different metal tools to shape and pull the molten glass into the desired design. By the time he was done he had made a beautiful vase, all in less than eight minutes. The skills and talents of glass blowing are a Venetian tradition slowly fading away as young people lose interest and mass production offers goods at a fraction of the price.
As one so easily thinks of Venetian and Murano glass when thinking about Venice, no trip to this city of canals would be complete without a gondola ride. In the 1100s gondolas were the primary form of transportation in Venice. However, today gondolas are typically only used for sight-seeing by tourists. There are a limited number of gondolas and a limited number of gondolier licenses issued in Venice. Our handsome gondolier told us that his father was a gondolier also, once his father retired he passed both his gondola and his license to him. However, being a gondolier is still a very difficult job and even though it was in his blood, so to speak, took him a year to learn the skills necessary to pass the test and become a gondolier. He also said that he couldn’t imagine
doing anything else for a living. He seemed to enjoy playing the role of a gondolier as much as actually traversing the back canals leisurely with tourists. Once we got back to the dock he gladly took pictures with each of us and Rita was able to slip in a quick kiss on his cheek. We were glad that they shared a part of their Venetian tradition with us and they are keeping a part of their history alive.
There are all kinds of traditions that are specific to Venice in addition to the two I mentioned above mask making, and lace making are other artisan traditions we explored while visiting here. In a world that demands efficiency, we tend to forget to slow down and enjoy the little things that have gotten us to where we are today. We lose site of the value of ‘handmade’ in the quake caused by mass production, uniformity, and low cost. Visiting Venice and experiencing their traditions helped me remember this and has reminded me to slow down and appreciate the unique things life offers, especially those that can’t be created except by hand and how those traditions define our culture.
-Lynn Beining
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