Fitabatele

Drawing of a fitabatele.

Fitabatele are rowboat rental facilties where people could rent rowboats for work or fun, but now motor boats dominate the canals that were once filled with the rowed traditional boats. Due to this overwhelming increase of motor boats, or mototopi, the traditional watercrafts are no longer being maintained, and as a result, are being abandoned. The decline of these boats can most clearly be seen with the decline in fitabatele. Between 1930 and 1960, 18 of the facilities closed down. Then in the next 15 years, 17 more facilities shut down. At one time in history, there were 52 fitabatele, but today, there are none.

Fitabatele closures.

Locating where the fitabatele were and the years they declined in, correspond to the introduction and increased use of motor boats. Based on the data collected and analyzed by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Interactive Qualifying Project team from 2004, it appears that most of these facilities closed between 1960 and 1975. The data shows an inverse relationship between the decline of the fitabatele and the rise of the motorboats.

The biggest reason why these facilities shut down was because they were no longer a necessity for commercial use as the motorboats came around. Virtually every traditional boat that was once used for the transportation of cargo has been replaced by motor boats. As a result, the only remaining reason to still rent a traditional boat would be for pleasure and leisure. However, the need to do this has been diminished by the increased number of rowing clubs because rowing club membership allows members to use traditional boats whenever they want at their own convenience.

See Also

• Traditional Boats
• Maritime Heritage
• Traghetto
• Squeri
• Squerarioli

External Links

• http://www.arzana.org/

References

• Bigda, Bryan, Michelle Dubuke, Daniel LaTorella, and Jennifer Richards. Museo Arzanà: Preserving the Traditional Boats of Venice. Interactive Qualifying Project, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2007.
• Candlish, Sean, Craig Shevlin, and Sarah Stout. The Traditional Boats of Venice: Assessing a Maritime Heritage. Interactive Qualifying Project, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2004.
• Catalano, Brian, Kristen Gervais, and Ryan Sinapius. Preserving the Nautical Traditions and Maritime Heritage of Venice, Italy. Interactive Qualifying Project, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2005.
• Arzana | Per Lo Studio E La Conservazione Delle Imbarcazioni Veneziane. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.arzana.org/>.