Venice has always had exactly 425 licensed gondoliers. They were all men until 2010!
That’s right; it wasn’t until 2010 that authorities granted a woman a full license to show visitors the history and charm of Venice via waterway. Said woman is 24 year old, mother-of-two Giorgia Boscolo whose father was also a gondolier. She passed a year-long series of practical and written tests so that she could spend her days passing through Venice’s beautiful cannels.
The deputy mayor of Venice says that there has been “excessive male domination” inside the gondolier’s guild. In 2010, her employment was only part-time and conditional. She could only stand in for a male colleague if he wanted to take the day of. However, she hoped that one day she would have her own gondola tied up in front of St.Mark’s Basilica.