Pleasure barge

Many places where canals or rivers play a prominent role have developed pleasure barges for conducting religious ceremonies, holding waterborne festivities, or viewing scenery.

The most famous Egyptian barge, the Thalamegos, is that used by Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt when she arrived in luxurious state to seduce Mark Antony and also allegedly when she sailed up the Nile with Julius Caesar.

11th-century Chinese writer Ouyang Xiu mentions a pleasure barge in his poetry with oars the color of orchids (or magnolias, depending on the translation).

Barges built to provide people with scenic trips down rivers developed along with the growing middle class in Europe and the United States.

Modern pleasure barges, such as those that travel the wine regions of France, can include such amenities as DVD players, exercise equipment, onboard kitchens and water closets, skylit passenger cabins, spa pools and stereo systems.

The luxury hotel barges of Europe are even crewed by a master chef and house keepers, and piloted by an experienced captain all of which live on board to care for the guests who are staying with them.

[2] The Romantic period of art in Europe was fascinated with mundane objects elevated to luxurious heights, making the pleasure barge an attractive subject.

About the same time, Ludwig II of Bavaria had a sketch drawn up for an elaborate gilded barge with the sea god Neptune at its prow and a carved, elevated canopy, reached by a wrought iron staircase and topped by an angel holding aloft the royal crown.