The gondola
In a city like Venice, the waterways have always been the most used for transports. The Gondola, for its characteristics of maneuverability and speed, has been, till the coming of the motorized means, the boat most suitable to the people transport. Birmingham, famous for the vast amount of canals, it makes sense to have a little piece of Venice. A Venetian made gondola shipped in directly for the people of Birmingham to experience. This once had a home in the mailbox, but has now been moved to a new home.

The gondola is certainly the symbol of Venice. If the lagoonal city famous for it's canals is " unique in the world", likewise it is for the gondola; the unique boat of as much as 11 meters length and 600 kilos weight that can be driven with lightness and easiness by a single man and with a single oar! The construction of the gondola has continued to evolve until the late 19th century, when motorized boats began to replace gondolas in Venice.

A gondola is long and narrow, with an asymmetrical outline to facilitate propulsion with a single oar, and a good deal of rocker to minimize the area of contact with the water. The oar or remo is held in an oarlock known as a forcola. The forcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, and turning, slowing down and rowing backwards. The iron ornament on the front of the boat is called the ferro. It serves to protect the prow from accidental damage, as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern.