Bucentaur

The Palazzo Stern, also outdated Bucentaur or Golden bark, was the ship of state of the Doges of Venice. It was a magnificent fully equipped Venetian schooner or galley with 168 rowers rowing at 42. The 1728 in the Arsenale of Venice built of wood Bucintoro measured 43.8 × 7.3 × 8.4 meters.

The name

The name is said to come from a chimera of Greek mythology, a mixture of cow and Centaur - at least one of the common explanations. According to another is a corruption of ducentorum, the Latin name for a ship with 200 crew members. The derivation of cinto d' oro - ie " goldumgürtet " or " gold- clothed " - is common. Rather mocking and based on the position of Venice as the most important Italian mercantile city in the Middle Ages, the derivation of Buzzo d' oro is to understand ( = golden abdomen).

Sposalizio

On the day of the Ascension in 997 (according to other sources in the year 1000 ) of the Doge Pietro II Orseolo stabbed with a galley at sea to rescue Dalmatian coastal towns of pirates. This exemption action founded the long-lasting rule of Venice over the Dalmatian coast, and later on the entire Adriatic Sea and far beyond.

Then the ceremony goes back every year with the later on Ascension of Sposalizio del mare - the spiritual marriage of Venice with the sea - was celebrated. The Doge, clergy members and foreign ambassadors sailed out into the lagoon. Here, the patriarch of San Elena blessed a ring which the Doge then threw when passing on the Lido as a sign of Sposalizio in the Adriatic, where he uttered the words:

" Disponsamus te, Mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii. "

"We marry you, the sea, a sign of our true and lasting dominion. "

When the rite arose is unknown. The presence of foreigners was of course by no means a gesture of friendship; Rather, they should consciously take part in a demonstration of the power requirements of the Serenissima.

The marriage with the sea is a rite which is also common in other Italian cities and regions since the late Middle Ages.

Goethe on the Bucintoro

Goethe showed up on his Italian journey also very impressed by the Palazzo Stern:

The end of the magnificent ship

The last Bucintoro was largely destroyed by Napoleon's soldiers. They entered on January 9, 1798 axes in the Arsenal of Venice and the rich decoration of the ship smashed into small pieces - hoping to get to the little gold leaf, the value they probably overestimated considerably. The hull ship was later repaired and under the name Hidra ( Hydra ) once again in service. It was built to protect the port of Lido and was finally scrapped in 1828. Remains are preserved in Venice at the Civico Museo Correr and in the Arsenal.

• Model of Palazzo Stern in the Maritime Museum in Venice

The tail

The bug