Venetian Arsenal - Venice, Italy
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Raven
N 45° 26.077 E 012° 20.996
33T E 292720 N 5034649
Now a naval base and technology center, Venice's "Arsenale" was once the largest shipyard in the world. It played a major role in the city's naval warfare since the early 12th century.
Waymark Code: WMGFAT
Location: Veneto, Italy
Date Posted: 02/25/2013
Views: 28
The Venetian Arsenal was a complex of state-owned shipyards and armories clustered together in Venice. It was responsible for the bulk of Venice's naval power during the middle part of the second millenium AD.
Believed to have been built during the reign of Ordelafo Faliero, the 34th Doge of Venice who was waging war with the Hungarians, Venice's arsenal had its beginning as a state ship yard that maintained privately-built naval ships. In 1320, however, the Nuovo Arsenale was built which provided much more space than the original Byzantine-style structure. With the addition of the Nuovo Arsenale, the Venetian state had a place to build and maintain both merchant AND navy ships, all in one location.
Venice developed methods of mass-producing warships in the Arsenal, including the frame-first system to replace the Roman hull-first practice: this new system was much faster and required less wood. At the peak of its efficiency in the early sixteenth century, the Arsenal employed some 16,000 people who apparently were able to produce nearly one ship each day, and could fit out, arm, and provision a newly built galley with standardized parts on a production-line basis not seen again until the Industrial Revolution.
The Arsenale was also responsible for the development of the galleons, enormous sailing ships with oars, sporting guns mounted on wheeled chariots. They were known to be "floating fortresses" though their size made them slow and difficult to maneuver. They were used in a few major naval battles.
During the rule of Napoleon, parts of the gateway and other sections of the arsenal were destroyed. It was later rebuilt, but after 1900, most shipbuilding was moved to private yards. Further destruction of the yard occurred during World War II.
Today, the arsenale is mostly used by the Italian army and is not accessible to the public except for some parts that open up for exhibitions during certain parts of the year.
Era: Pre-Napoleonic
General Comments: Not listed
Related web site: Not listed
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