Venice Arsenale

brief history

It was in the Arsenale that the Serenissima built the merchant vessels and above all warships in its fleet. It was therefore the heart of its military power.
The first "nucleus" of the Arsenale dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and corresponds to the "Darsena Vecchia" (Old Dock) (Doge Falier).
The next few centuries saw construction of the Arsenale Nuovo (New Arsenale) (early 1300s) and Arsenale Novissimo (Very New Arsenale) (early decades of the 1500s) with their respective docks, merged during the 1800s to become the present Darsena Grande (Large Dock). At the same time, the area was bounded and protected by high walls.


1. Darsena Vecchia 2. Darsena Nuova		3. Galeazze area and dock 4. Tese della Novissima area and dock

The Arsenale soon became Venice's most important industry and as early as the 1400s employed as many as 3000 workers, craftsmen and engineers (known as the "Arsenalotti"). The rigorous and highly specialised work organisation enabled the extraordinary production capacity to be backed by exceptional management abilities and an efficient modern organisation covering all aspects of the process.
New "factories" and infrastructure were built on the new areas which became part of the Arsenale system - wharfs, slipways, dry docks, shipyards, sites for the construction of oared vessels ("squeri") workshops, warehouses and basins. Some of these owe their name to their original functions (e.g. Torre di Alberatura (masting tower), Corderie (ropewalk), etc).
The decline of the Serenissima also marked the progressive decline of the Arsenale which in 1797 was partly destroyed by the French troops before Venice was assigned to Austria with the Treaty of Campo Formio (10 October 1797). During the following decades under alternating Austrian and French rule reconstruction and expansion of the Arsenale began.
After annexation of Venice to Italy (1866), the project to make the Arsenale the most important naval base in the north Adriatic continued. New zones were reclaimed in the area of salt marshes to the north east of the Arsenale Nuovissimo and at the end of the century some of the giants of the Italian navy were launched there.


5. Celestia area 6. Medium and small dry docks in the Vergini area		7. Large dry dock 8. Casermette area

During the early 1900s, further expansion took place again in the north east, but the production system in general was changing and boat building was ever more transferred from state dockyards to private shipyards. The production side of the Arsenale's activities therefore began to shrink. During the Second World War, this situation did not change and no improvements were made in structure or equipment. Instead the German occupation contributed to the stripping of materials and machines.

		The Arsenale is now owned partly by the Italian Navy and partly by the State which are present in the area alongside other organisations and institutions (State Agency, Venice Biennial, Venice Local Authority, Italian National Research Council, Venice Water Authority and Thetis spa, together with other companies in the shipbuilding sector active there in a number of ways.
		The Arsenale in relation to the historic city centre of Venice