Crowds gather along the Grand Canal for the moment when Venice celebrates its unbreakable bond with water. A key event in the annual calendar of Voga alla Veneta races – a unique discipline practiced for millennia in the Venetian lagoon – the competitive regattas feature various types of boats and age categories, culminating in the highlight of the day: the two-oared gondolini race, with a thrilling photo-finish at Ca’ Foscari. The atmosphere leading up to the event is unmatched, with rowing associations organizing convivial gatherings and community-focused activities. It’s a true folk celebration, as ancient as the city that hosts it, steeped in tradition and camaraderie.
The procession preceding the challenges of the Regata Storica evokes the welcome given in 1489 to Caterina Cornaro, the bride of the King of Cyprus, who renounced her throne in favour of Venice. It is a parade of dozens and dozens of typical 16th-century boats, multicoloured and with gondoliers in costume, carrying the doge, the dogaressa, Caterina Cornaro and all the highest offices of the Venetian magistracy, in a faithful reconstruction of the glorious past of one of the most powerful and influential Maritime Republics in the Mediterranean.
