Nearly all of Venice first inhabitants could row and, many of them, chose the job of boatman, a term closely linked to the verb "to ferry" which comes from the Latin 'transigere', that is carrying beyond; it is inevitable to associate it with the term 'tragheto', that is ferry.
The ‘tragheto’ is a parking place for gondolas located next to water bank in order to carry passangers to the opposite shore. Today 'tragheti' play mainly the function of starting place for a tour of Venice on a gondola and are scattered exclusively in town. In ancient times it was quite different, in fact, in some historical documents ranging from '500 to '700, ferries located quite far from the town are mentioned: in Lizza Fusina, Mestre, St.
During the times of the Serenissima, boatmen were joined in an association, called 'fraglia dei barcaioli' which was divided into different 'fraglie de tragheto' whose members were called 'fradei de tragheto', that is ferry' brothers, they had 'mariegole', internal regulations. In that period there were lots of ferries and their existence is widely recorded, as it is with the edict issued by the "Order of the five wisemen" dealing with "Boatmen and fees" were many ferries such as St. Trovaso, St. Margarita, Gheto novo, Sts. Zuane and Paul, Rafael angel are mentioned. St. Beneto (1293), St. Barnaba (1298), Ca’ Dolfin in Rialto (1293), St. Felice (1349), St. Tomà (1354) stand among the most ancient ferries. As far as ferries looking on the Grand Canal are concerned, we can state that they have always existed and, many of them, have a very ancient tradition.
In that period, ferries played a public and social function