Death In Venice For The Gondola

VENICE, Italy - In a scruffy shed where two tiny canals intersect, master craftsman Romeo Crivellaro carefully chiseled a winged lion on the prow of a wooden boat with sinuous, asymmetrical curves - unmistakably, a gondola.

``It will be among the most beautiful in Venice,'' beamed the proud owner, gondolier Mario De Pitta, patting the gondola he has dubbed the Stefania II, after his daughter.

It has been six months in the making, and soon the carving will be completed, the coats of shimmering black paint applied, and then the boat will slide into the water.

De Pitta will don his traditional straw hat with the trailing red ribbon and paddle off among the 150 canals that are the streets of this unique and romantic island city.

For 500 years, Venetians have been building gondolas. But today, a dirge is being sounded for the boat that inspired ballads.

Only 300 gondolas are left of a fleet that once numbered 15,000 at the peak of Venetian power in the 16th century, when gondolas were the basic means of transportation.

Only three ``squeri'' - gondola boatyards - build them now, turning out a total of but 10 boats a year, and the craftsmen who painstakingly put them together by hand are a dying breed.

``I am the youngest `squerarolo','' said Roberto Tramontin, 34. ``After me, there is no one.''

``Once we rode about in a horse and buggy, now we ride about in an automobile,'' said De Pitta. ``It is not as romantic, but it is progress. The gondola, however, should be treated differently. It is the symbol of Venice. How can we do away with our symbol? Venice would not be the same.''

Buffeted by the wakes of hundreds of motorized boats plying the canals and ravaged by polluted waters, the gondolas are wearing out faster, creating an even greater need for new ones.

In the old days, gondolas lasted half a century. Now, a gondolier is lucky to keep his afloat half as long - De Pitta's new boat replaces the Stefania I, built in 1964.

Modern Venetians no longer ride in gondolas, except on special occasions such as weddings.

These days, virtually all of them cater to tourists at fat prices (at least $50 for 50 minutes), save for the ``traghetto,'' a gondola-like ferry hauling passengers across the broad Grand Canal at various points for just 50 cents.

When Venetians want to get around by boat, they board a ``vaporetto,'' a floating bus that hauls dozens of passengers at a time along regular routes, or they hire a ``motoscafo,'' a cabin cruiser taxi. The ride is smoother, faster, and warmer in the winter.

Even those gondolas serving tourists are in danger of disappearing because there are no young apprentice builders learning the craft.

``Young people today are not so willing to put up with the hard, exacting work,'' said Tramontin, who learned the craft from his father, Nedis, now 67.

Beneath its shiny layers of black paint, the gondola is a composite of eight different woods, all carefully fitted together. The prow is African mahogany, dampened, then heated with the fire of burning reeds to make it pliable.

The finished product costs an average of $23,000. But a really regal boat, such as De Pitta's Stefania II, will run more than $32,000.

The Venice city council is belatedly talking about starting a school to train apprentice gondoliers, but the question is who will teach.

``All the masters have their hands full building new boats and painting and refitting old ones,'' said Tramontin.