Squero di San Trovaso
Squero di San Trovaso
4.5
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The area
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Neighborhood: Dorsoduro / Accademia
Artsy is the defining mood of this neighborhood with street artists, students, painters, sculptors, restorers, curators, historians, collectors, heirs and heiresses rubbing elbows. Peggy Guggenheim's collection, now a museum, lures chic locals for evening art aperitifs. Traditionalists and visionaries cocoon in bohemian luxury. La Salute basilica buttresses the neighborhood to the east. Gondolas bob in the morning light. The Accademia Bridge crosses the Grand Canal. A back street doubles as basketball court. Palaces house residents, or like Ca' Foscari a university, or a museum like Ca’ Rezzonico that attracts Venetians for concerts. Dorsoduro reveals its industrial roots too, in buildings converted to house university departments or exhibitions. Campo Santa Margherita bursts with youthful energy from local students. Foot traffic bustles to and from Piazzale Roma and Santa Lucia train station. Evening commuters pause for an aperitivo. Neighbors exchange confidants in a campo (square) on their way to market.
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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles218 reviews
Excellent
112
Very good
87
Average
19
Poor
0
Terrible
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Asiyah Noemi K
Pula, Croatia5,046 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2021
Venice would not be Venice without the Gondola. The gondola eventually became a symbol of Venice and its many canals. The gondolas are beautiful elegant vessels adapted for sailing in the shallow waters of the Venetian lagoon, as they have minimal draft. And here in this place in San Trovaso the best gondolas in Venice are being built. Squero di San Trovaso is one of the oldest and most famous Venetian squero (boatyards), where gondolas are built and repaired. A beautiful place where we can enjoy and imagine the history of building beautiful gondolas. Gondolas delight me and that is why it is a real pleasure to be where they are built. It is located in the sestiere di Dorsoduro, next to the Rio di San Trovaso. The Squero di San Trovaso rises and dates from the seventeenth century. It is one of the few squares still operating in Venice. The term crearo comes from “squadra” (team), in a dialect square, a working tool. Here it is possible to see a recognizable square leaning towards the canal for access to boats and a wooden structure, called "tesa", which was once used in a rain shelter and as a stack of tools. The building, like other squares, is reminiscent of mountain houses, here lived masters from the Cadore area, from which the timber for building boats originated. It is in courtyards like this that one can admire the peculiarities of the Gondola such as its longitudinal asymmetry which allows a driver to maneuver it while standing on a transcom, “poppa” (hence the Venetian name of a gondolier called Papa).
Written February 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Felecia M
11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023
This is the oldest gondola workshop in Venice and it was amazing to see it in action. There were repairs being made on a couple of gondolas and also a new one being built. They build only one new gondola a year. We learned that gondolas are shaped like a banana! Short tour but that was fine as it covered much information. We took this tour after our rowing lession so it was a great ending.
Written May 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Life-is-an-Adventure
Karmiel, Israel466 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Couples
On one side of the canal is a walkway with people watching the work under-way on the other side where craftsmen are working on very uniquely designed boats, the Venetian Gondola. It is not just a pretty and functional vessel following a traditional design but has some specific features - such as its alignment being twisted to permit the Gondolier to scull from only one side while being able to manoeuvre it in the crowded canals of Venice.

On the side of the yard - no doubt for the humour - is a gondola made up as a gunship! See my attached photo.

Walking along the Zattere just turn up the San Trovaso canal walking on its east (towards San Marco) side. Within a few metres you'll see the boatyard across the canal.

Venice is a wonderful place just to wander and get lost - my wife and I did that for a full seven days, were never bored and would go back in a heartbeat!

Venice is: Very lovely - Very crowded - Very interesting - Very expensive
Written June 26, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Geoff
Bexhill-on-Sea, UK48 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019
This is a genuine bit of old Venice that hasn't changed significantly in more than 150 years. Relatively quiet, extremely photogenic and with a Cicchetti bar directly opposite on the other side of the canal.
Written October 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maggi713
Baltimore, MD12,090 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2015
What a fascinating place! The Squero di San Trovaso is the oldest and most famous boat yard. Here is where they mostly repair gondolas and sometimes build a new one. It was established in the 17th century. The back of it actually is on the square in front of the Church of San Trovaso and close to the Accademia Bridge. The small wooden structures visitors view from across the canal are Tyrolean in style (Swiss Chalets) since workers came originally from an area around Cadore, in the Dolomites, an Italian section of the Alps. I have read that there are over 350 gondolas on the canal each day. Interesting side note is that the gondolas are made from 8 different kinds of wood - mahogany, cherry, fir, walnut, oak, elm, larch and lime - as tradition dictates. The boatyard is not open to the public.
Written August 29, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kmarko
Skofja Loka, Slovenia612 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2014 • Friends
As a frequent visitor to Venice I have probably passed by several times without noticing... so am really happy to find this info on Tripadvisor :) it is probably one of rare remaining gondola repair services, and probably the closest to turistic paths. Although you can just observe across a canal, it is a charming reminder on once great bussiness in Venice. I can't imagine whether the workers (dis)like turists observing and taking photos of their work all day long. I also wonder if they (or some of them) actually live in the wooden houses above the workshop?? Anyway, something you can not see anywhere else in the world! And maybe not for long in Venice either (when the workers decide to have some privacy and make a fence, maybe just a linen sheet they already have at the entrance to the workshop ;)
Written June 24, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SmileyKay
Cluj-Napoca, Romania1,423 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020
Lovely and quiet area of Venice from where you can take a glimpse of one of the ancient (still working) gondola workshops in Venice!
Written September 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bilal J
Berlin, Germany65 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Had a great day in venice,and the square is just woow!!!,but my advise wear something comfy as you have a long journey if your coming from the train station :/
Written August 5, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SandraW13
Santa Rosa, CA435 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2013 • Couples
This is a short except from our 3 week travel blog
We'd heard about a place where you can still watch the Venetian gondola builders at work and it
was not far from where we were having a cup of coffee. So we set off along the Rio d Trovaso canal.
We sat across the canal on the wall watching the repair work bring done it was very interesting to sit there and see them working on gondolas that needed to be repaired.

Directly across from where the men were working, there is a small cafe / bar that serves the Italian equivalent of Tapas called Ciccetti - the place is called Osteria Al Squero and we had it on our list based on pre-trip research. I have done a separate review on that.
Written March 11, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David F
London, UK162 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019 • Couples
Interesting place to see, but not much content other than, it’s a Gondola boatyard. Lack of smug ‘Gondoliers’ in striped shirts and no one singing the Cornetto song, I guess that is because when their boats are out of the water they are not sucking the contents out of tourists wallets!
Written September 17, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Squero di San Trovaso - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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