Audio tourWaterways Explorer: Ancient crafts and trades - Battaglia and Bisato Canals

The world of river navigation did not only consist of boatmen, or fresh water sailors, but comprised a whole series of professional figures, among whom: transporters, horsemen for pulling boats upstream, log drivers, gatekeepers (guardians of the navigation basins), sand and gravel transporters, millers, and even innkeepers. Connected to all this of course was the world of boatbuilding, requiring very specific know-how that was more often than not jealously passed on from generation to generation: squeraroi (boat builders), caulkers (to make the boats water worthy), velai, remeri and canevini, makers of sails, oars and canape ropes respectively. This dynamic world strongly contrasted the more static one of farming, indeed boatmen were often described as “nomads” or “gypsies” due to their lifestyle, always on the move.