Description
The Arsenali Medicei are eight great brick bays on Pisa's riverfront, where in the 16th century the galleys of the Tuscan fleet were built. Today they house the museum of ancient ships, with Roman boats preserved almost whole.
The first museum grew out of an idea of Cosimo I de' Medici. After Pisa's surrender to Florence in 1509 the city had lost the sea, and Cosimo wanted to bring ships back to it. The design is attributed to Buontalenti.
The eight bays are on average 60 meters long. Already active before 1540, the shipyard launched in 1546 the first galley built entirely by local craftsmen. It worked for the ships of the Order of Saint Stephen.
The yard grew so fast that it pushed out the botanical garden, the Giardino dei Semplici, moved in 1563. But Livorno and Portoferraio took over. Later the arsenals were a royal stable, and in the Second World War one bay was destroyed.
The Museo delle navi antiche has been open since 2019. The vessels were found in December 1998, during works near the San Rossore station: at least thirty boats sunk in nine floods, from the 2nd century BC to the 7th AD.
The oxygen-free mud also preserved wood, ropes, baskets, fishing gear and cargoes of amphorae. People have spoken of a "maritime Pompeii." The ships came from Gaul, Campania and the Adriatic.
Don't miss the Alkedo, a pleasure boat shaped like a warship, with twelve rowers. Its name, "kingfisher" in Latin, was written in Greek letters on a bench. Then the cargo ship with the sailor found under the load, still embracing his dog.
The route runs through eight sections. There are flat-bottomed river barges, the long slender boat like a gondola, and a section on life on board.
The first museum grew out of an idea of Cosimo I de' Medici. After Pisa's surrender to Florence in 1509 the city had lost the sea, and Cosimo wanted to bring ships back to it. The design is attributed to Buontalenti.
The eight bays are on average 60 meters long. Already active before 1540, the shipyard launched in 1546 the first galley built entirely by local craftsmen. It worked for the ships of the Order of Saint Stephen.
The yard grew so fast that it pushed out the botanical garden, the Giardino dei Semplici, moved in 1563. But Livorno and Portoferraio took over. Later the arsenals were a royal stable, and in the Second World War one bay was destroyed.
The Museo delle navi antiche has been open since 2019. The vessels were found in December 1998, during works near the San Rossore station: at least thirty boats sunk in nine floods, from the 2nd century BC to the 7th AD.
The oxygen-free mud also preserved wood, ropes, baskets, fishing gear and cargoes of amphorae. People have spoken of a "maritime Pompeii." The ships came from Gaul, Campania and the Adriatic.
Don't miss the Alkedo, a pleasure boat shaped like a warship, with twelve rowers. Its name, "kingfisher" in Latin, was written in Greek letters on a bench. Then the cargo ship with the sailor found under the load, still embracing his dog.
The route runs through eight sections. There are flat-bottomed river barges, the long slender boat like a gondola, and a section on life on board.