The cultural association I Laghee, by the will of its president Giovanni Nogara said, due to his remarkable physical prowess, Giovannone is a true expert of Lucie.
He owns some and manages at least 20 of them. He repairs them, restructures them, revives them and row them.
His Lucie are used for the most varied occasions, to take tourists for a ride, for weddings, to accompany the Podestà to Bellano during the historical re-enactment of the “Pesa Vegia”, for specific competitions and other cultural events.
New and curious, Lucia also hosted a concert, from the lake, by Nadine & Marcus who faced a super-classic repertoire, preceded by historical explanations, for Italian and foreign tourists since the historical explanations were made in three languages.
The event started in front of Nadia Pradelli’s Arrigoni pastry shop where the first part of the, opera concert and more, of Nadine & Marcus was dedicated to all passers-by and people who had stopped in the pastry shop.
The second part of the concert took place in front of the Lido di Bellano, by Salvatore Carulli. The sun was already setting behind the Lugano mountains and the colors of Lake Como, the most beautiful lake in the world, were extremely suggestive.
Here is the beauty of our country, the splendor of nature combined with the beauty of the most famous and beautiful music and songs in the history of opera, operetta and timeless Italian songs, interpreted by lyrical voices and with the addition of a cultural explanation of everything are our greatest wealth, let’s never forget it.
The history of the Lucia
On Lake of Como there is a very special boat rich in ancient traditions.
Its original name is “Batell” and it has been sailing the length and breadth of Lake Como since 1300 or so. Fishermen used it to transport Agoni, Perch and Lavarelli along the shores of the lake to supply the markets..
It was also used to transport all kinds of goods.
Those who designed it studied it to be an extremely safe work boat, they thought of a flat keel, with a maximum length of 6 meters, a maximum width of two meters and suitable for having two people on board.
For the wood, given the abundance in the neighboring woods, it was thought of brown for the hull and the three circles. For the oars, instead, they thought of fir.
Sometimes the boat was equipped with a mast that mounted a rectangular sail of the same size as the hull to take advantage of the action of the two typical winds of Lake of Como. The two winds have very specific names and times: the Breva that blows from the south from noon to sunset and the “Tivano”, a breeze that blows from the north from midnight to eight in the morning.
The Batell was also used as a passenger boat with a maximum capacity of about 10 people, based on the weight and volume of passengers.
After Alessandro Manzoni published, in 1827, the most famous novel in the history of Italian literature, I Promessi Sposi, the boat took the name of Lucia.
In the eighth chapter of the novel, Manzoni sets the escape of Lucia Mondella, her mother Agnese and Lucia’s betrothed, Renzo Tramaglino, right on a Batell, the characteristic boat of the lake.
The three fled from the wrath and persecution of the villain of the place, a certain Don Rodrigo.
From that moment on, the most famous of the boats sailing on the Lake of Como became “La Lucia”.
Un abbraccio/ a big Hug
Marcus Dardi
