Bissona "Cavalli"

The Bissóna is an ancient Venetian ceremonial boat, rowed by eight oarsmen in costume, lavishly decorated with allegorical sculptures and gold-plated carving. It was used in parades or to welcome important people. Ten of these boats, reconstructions built by Giovanni Giuponi, still form the canal procession during the Regata Storica.

See also: drawings

Bissona "Geografia"                             Bissona "Serenissima"

Bissona "Veneziana"

Peota Savoia front view

This was a ceremonial boat also used as a pleasure boat for high-ranking passengers, rowed by eight oarsmen.

It had a central cabin, tiemo, to shelter the guests, which was decorated with the same theme as the hull and the crew, more or less gaudily depending on the social class of the owners.

It was used for trips on the lagoon, to see the regattas, to welcome illustrious guests and to follow the ceremonies of the doge.

Peota Savoia

Ceremonial boat built in 1730 made to the order of Carlo Emanuele III di Savoia, King of Sardinia, in a boatyard on Burano; it was then transported together with a number of gondolas upstream along the river Po to the castle of Valentino di Torino,  for the enjoyment of the royal family.

Kept at the Museo Civico di Palazzo Madama in Turin, it is now awaiting restoration by the company Nicola Restauri in Aramengo, Piedmont.

Main dimensions:

hull length               approx.  15,57 m

beam                      approx.  2,8 m

depth                      approx.  0,96 m

number of oarsmen   8

Bow of the peota Savoia

Carved Forcola of the Savoia peota 

Fifteenth century bucintoro from the view of Venice by Jacopo de Barbari.

LThe most magnificent vessel of Venetian ceremonies, the bucintoro was used by the doge and the highest offices of the State to participate in official ceremonies such as the 'wedding with the sea' or to welcome foreign kings and ambassadors.

It would be more correct to use the plural term 'bucintori' rather than the singular 'bucintoro' given the number of boats over the centuries that have been given the name: from the one built in 1449 under the doge Francesco Foscari, which, however, was not the first as it was made 'larger than the original'. Another was launched in 1526, replaced in turn in 1606 by a new type under doge Leonardo Donà. The last bucintoro was launched on the 12th January 1728 under the doge Alvise Mocenigo and was destroyed by French soldiers at the fall of the Most Serene Republic.

Of all these vessels all that remains are a few pictures, some models and a few fragments of dubious authenticity, and, as is the case for all boats and ships, there are no technical drawings. In fact even the bucintori were built using sesti (templates) which were lost.

Each of the vessels we know about was characterized by a two-deck structure, the lower deck for the oarsmen and the upper deck for the passengers, the whole boat decorated in the most gaudy way possible with paintings, carvings and sculptures including, at the bow, the figure of Venice with sword and scales.

The dimensions of the last bucintoro were:

Keel length 100 Venetian feet ( 34.8 m), beam 21 Venetian feet 7.30 m

The main hall covered by the tiemo was 22.6 m long while the smaller one reserved for the doge was 8.51 m long.

There were 21 hatches on each side from where the oars (10.8 m long) extended. Each oar was rowed by four men from the Arsenal

Article (in Italian): Arte navale, agosto-settembre 2000. Gilberto Penzo, La reggia sulle acque,

Side view, section and plan view of the seventeenth century bucintoro; the bucintoro being towed by two galleys. Taken from the manuscript A voyage into the Mediterranean Seas, by E. Dummer 1685, British Library, King's mss. 40.

The eighteenth century bucintoro during the ceremony of the Wedding of the Sea at Forte di S. Andrea. Venice Museum of Naval History.

The bucintoro in its tesa (yard), together with a felucca and a guilded caicho, before the arrival of French soldiers. Drawing by the Abbot Maffioletti, Venice Museum of Naval History.

The bucintoro after being stripped of its decorations by Napoleon's soldiers. Drawing by the Abbot Maffioletti, Venice Museum of Naval History.

View of the side, the front and the stern of the model of the Bucintoro displayed at the Venice Museum of Naval History.