Bucentaur

Bucentaur, Italian Bucintoro, in the Republic of Venice, a highly decorated galley used by the doge on solemn state occasions, especially at the annual ceremony of the “wedding of the sea” (sposalizio del mare) on Ascension Day. That ceremony was inaugurated about 1000 and symbolized the maritime supremacy of Venice. It took the form of a solemn procession of boats out to sea, headed by the doge’s maesta nave (from 1311, the bucentaur). When at sea, the doge dropped a consecrated ring into the water, with the words Desponsamus te, mare (“We wed thee, sea”). The last Bucentaur, built in 1729, was destroyed by the French in 1798 for the sake of its gold decorations, but remains of it are preserved at Venice in the Civico Museo Correr and in the Arsenal.