A row of gondolas lies in a boatyard in Venice – the Italian city famous for these sleek black vessels which go whispering through its canals.
The boats bear the hallmarks of a tiny but proud group of artisans, striving to keep alive the traditional building methods for the floating city's most recognisable symbol.
14 Oct 2013 . VENICE, Italy. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
Lorenzo Della Toffola works on part of a gondola at the San Trovaso boatyard, which produces one or two of the vessels each year using century-old techniques.
"We work in the old style. Everything is done by hand," the 48-year-old said.
Another Venice gondola builder, Roberto Tramontin, said he uses a few machine-cut parts to makes his boats, in addition to the old-fashioned methods. Even so, it takes two months to construct a gondola from 280 pieces of various wood including lime, oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, fir, larch and elm, all adding up to a price tag of about 38,000 euros.
13 Oct 2013 . VENICE, Italy. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
Each steered by a lone gondolier in a striped shirt and straw hat, the slender luxury vehicles offer a romantic setting for a serene cruise and, not uncommonly, a proposal of marriage.
There were some 7,000 gondolas in Venice about 700 years ago, according to gondoliers' association Ente Gondola, but their use as everyday transport has been supplanted by modern boats. The remaining 433 are now primarily a tourist attraction.