Exploring the history of the Venice Lagoon by boat and bicycle
A proposal for slow, sustainable tourism that takes you off the beaten track to unique places rich in art and history, between Venice and Mantua: the Vicenza-based tour operator Girolibero has brought the concept of cycling along the canals from Northern Europe
Leave behind the massive cruise ships moored off St Mark’s Square and the groups of tourists herded along the traditional routes down the Grand Canal. Because Venice is a city to be experienced and discovered on your own terms, a city that isn’t limited to picture-postcard sights and crowded streets, but which extends to the surrounding lagoon where it has developed over the centuries. Whilst for the city itself – which attracts tourists from all over the world all year round – the usual way to get around is by vaporetto and on foot, the islands surrounding it conceal remote and unique spots, the result of the joint work of humankind and nature, best discovered using alternative and innovative means that embrace a slower pace.
The bicycle – all the more so when combined with a boat to move nimbly between the various areas of the lagoon – is the ideal way to reach one of the area’s oldest settlements, where the spark that led to the birth of Venice was first kindled. Malamocco, on the inner coast of the Lido, was a thriving centre as the port of Padua in Etruscan and later Roman times: it was the last strip of land before the Adriatic, near the mouth of the Brenta – which was later diverted further south – and represented a vital crossroads for the economy of the lagoon and of ancient Veneto. Then the invasion of Attila’s Huns, who arrived from the East to plunder the riches of what remained of the Roman Empire, forced the inhabitants to take refuge further inland, on the islands of the Rialto, where the first settlements arose that would give rise to the glorious history of the Serenissima.
In the footsteps of Corto Maltese
Malamocco has lost none of its charm, so much so that Hugo Pratt made it his favourite retreat, which inspired so many of Corto Maltese’s adventures. Even today, in the little square behind the old podestà’s palace – recognisable by the earliest depictions of the lion that would go on to become the symbol of Venetian power along the Mediterranean coast – one can still sense that history of commercial expansion and understated wealth.
This small town is one of the stops on the ‘boat and bike’ week-long tour along the canals between Mantua and Venice, organised by Girolibero, a Vicenza-based tour operator specialising in original, sustainability-focused holidays, which makes the combination of boat and bicycle one of the key features of its tourism offering. The tour of the lesser-known islands of the Venetian Lagoon marks the start of the week, but it is also the final leg if you travel the canals of the Venetian Lower Po Valley in the opposite direction, setting off from the Lombard city, home of the Gonzagas and Mantegna. In one direction, the journey is made aboard the ‘Vita pugna’, the group’s first historic boat, purchased in the Netherlands – where canal cycling holidays originated – and which arrived in the Lagoon after a month-long river journey down the Rhine, passing through Istanbul and Corinth before sailing up the Adriatic. In the opposite direction, you can travel on the ‘Ave Maria’, the other vessel – larger and more modern – acquired in Italia and refitted with comfortable cabins, all with en-suite bathrooms, to make for a unique journey that combines the tranquillity of sailing and cycling with the history and culture of unique places, such as Mantua, Venice and Ferrara, without neglecting Italian hospitality and cuisine, which places a strong emphasis on locally sourced produce.
Snippets of lagoon history
So, in the Lagoon, you set off from Giudecca to explore the lesser-known side of Venice, travelling independently but with the guide’s advice pointing you towards the most authentic and unspoilt spots, off the beaten track of the traditional tourist routes. And if you’re lucky enough to be there on the Saturday before the third Sunday in July, you’ll find yourself immersed in the Redentore festival, which commemorates the end of the plague epidemic in 1577, and you’ll be able to watch the night-time fireworks display in St Mark’s Basin right from the banks of the Giudecca.
