Arsenale

The Arsenale: Photo by Anatoly Terentiev, 1 May 2004

The Arsenale is a huge dockyard, now largely disused, in the eastern Castello district of Venice.

There has been a dockyard on this site since the 8th century when Venice was still a client state of the Byzantine Empire.

The origin of the word "arsenale" is unknown. Some experts believe that it is a corruption of the Arabic "Dar-al-sina" meaning "dockyard".

The Arsenale was originally one of several dockyards which constructed and repaired both merchant and military ships. After it was enlarged by the addition of the Arsenale Nuovo in 1320, all of Venice's military ships, and most of its merchant vessels, were built and serviced at the Arsenale.

After the extension of the shipyard, a large number of worker's houses were constructed around its perimeter. Several workshops specialising in the manufacture of rope were also established at this time.

The dockyard was expanded even further by the addition of the Arsenale Nuovissimo in 1473.

The Venetians revolutionised shipbuilding by abandoning the ancient Roman technique of constructing the hull first and then building the rest of the ship around it. Instead they constructed the entire frame of the ship and then moved it along a production line, adding various parts at each stage.

Indeed, by standardizing designs and employing specialist teams for each particular process, the Arsenale engineers were able to produce one ship per day by the early 1500's.

At the peak of its production, the Arsenale provided employment for over 16,000 workers. It was in common parlance a "city within a city".

Arsenale engineers also pioneered the manufacture of firearms. They produced some of the first rudimentary cannon in the 1370's and manufactured the early handguns used in warfare against the Genoese in the 1380's.

Arsenale engineers are credited with increasing the velocity of bullets so that firearms could penetrate armour thereby rendering crossbows obsolete.

By the mid-15th century, the Arsenale was also producing light-weight cannon which could be transported on field carriages.

The Arsenale pioneered the galleass in the early 15th century. This was a huge galley, akin to a floating fortress, whose sole purpose was to serve as a platform for powerful naval cannon.

The galleass was, however, a tactical failure being too slow and difficult to manoeveure.

The galleon, an armed sailing ship, was also pioneered at the Arsenale. Although formidable on the open sea, it often floundered in shallow waters.

The Porta Magna of the Venetian Arsenale: Image published under GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2 or later

The principal gate to the Arsenale, the Porta Magna, was completed in 1460 by Antonio Gambello who followed a design by Jacopo Bellini.

Both the arched gate, crowned by a triangular pediment, and the famous winged lion, which guards the entrance, are framed by twin pilasters. The gate is surrounded by an arrangement of marble plinths topped by classical statues.

The gate is the first renaissance structure constructed in Venice.

The lions sitting on either side of the gate were brought from Greece in 1687. One, the Piraeus Lion, bears some 11th century graffiti in a mediaeval  Scandinavian script.

The Arsenale was partially demolished after the Napoleonic invasion of 1797. Although the Italian government redeveloped the dockyard as a naval base during the late 19th century, it proved ill-suited to the demands of modern fighting ships.

The Arsenale is still partly used as a naval base. The site also hosts a research centre, an art exhibition venue, and an historic boat centre. However, much of the shipyard is now derelict.

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