Societa` Canottieri Firenze, Florence Rowing Club, began in 1886.
In 1887, for the inauguration of the new façade of the Duomo, they held their first Regatta on the Arno.
Rowing on the Arno
I love to watch the rowers, early in the morning, as I have my walk.
Canottiera also means singlet and presumably comes from the rower’s garb. Rowing Clubs the world over have an air of older and more gracious living, and the Florence one is no different. The club is elegant and old-worldy and full of leather chairs and marble floors and has, of course, a great dining room, and bar. The boat-shed is the thing though—endless racks of boats, racked and stored in a deep cavern directly beneath the Uffizzi Gallery! It makes the school rowing sheds I know in Australia look a little unfinished. The terrace by the water below The Uffizzi is shaded in summer by a pergola heavy with grape-vines throwing their lacy designs over cast-iron tables and chairs with a view of the Ponte Vecchio.
If you have reciprocal membership with a Rowing Club anywhere, go and visit the Societa` Canottieri Firenze. You will love it.