Description
The Arsenals of the Republic are what remains of the yard where Pisa built its galleys, in the west of the city, in the Cittadella area. Of the great complex only one shed is left, restored and now used for exhibitions.
The highlight is the medieval shed itself, a large building where galleys were built and repaired. Bombing brought its roof down, and the reconstruction of the arches helps you understand how it was made.
All around stretches the Cittadella area, dedicated to the Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Assad, killed by the Islamic State in 2015 while defending the cultural heritage of Palmyra. It serves as a support to the Museum of Ancient Ships of Pisa.
In the thirteenth century this spot, an area called Tersana, held only port warehouses outside the walls, along a canal that led to the Arno. Then the Republic, at the peak of its naval power, dug an artificial basin connected to the river by the Galleys' Gate.
Inside, specialized craftsmen worked, each on one part of the ship: a system almost like a modern factory. In 1261 the whole perimeter was enclosed by walls, with the Canto and Ghibellina towers, because the place had become strategic.
As the Republic declined, part of the arsenals was destroyed and turned into warehouses and weapons factories. After the Florentine conquest of 1406 the area was off limits to the Pisans: other fortifications were built, such as the Guelph Tower.
In the sixteenth century the area lost its military role. Where the sheds stood, the Botanical Garden was born, later moved elsewhere, and in the eighteenth century a cavalry barracks. The bombing of 1943 brought down the whole roof of the only shed left.
After the war the architect Giovanni Michelucci conceived a park dedicated to Galileo for the whole Cittadella, but the project was never completed. The redevelopment came only after 2010, when the city bought the area: three years of work and about five million euros, mostly from European funds.
Today the space hosts temporary exhibitions as well as weddings and receptions. My advice is to look at the arches with a historian's eye: they are the only concrete trace of the time when Pisa dominated the Mediterranean.
The highlight is the medieval shed itself, a large building where galleys were built and repaired. Bombing brought its roof down, and the reconstruction of the arches helps you understand how it was made.
All around stretches the Cittadella area, dedicated to the Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Assad, killed by the Islamic State in 2015 while defending the cultural heritage of Palmyra. It serves as a support to the Museum of Ancient Ships of Pisa.
In the thirteenth century this spot, an area called Tersana, held only port warehouses outside the walls, along a canal that led to the Arno. Then the Republic, at the peak of its naval power, dug an artificial basin connected to the river by the Galleys' Gate.
Inside, specialized craftsmen worked, each on one part of the ship: a system almost like a modern factory. In 1261 the whole perimeter was enclosed by walls, with the Canto and Ghibellina towers, because the place had become strategic.
As the Republic declined, part of the arsenals was destroyed and turned into warehouses and weapons factories. After the Florentine conquest of 1406 the area was off limits to the Pisans: other fortifications were built, such as the Guelph Tower.
In the sixteenth century the area lost its military role. Where the sheds stood, the Botanical Garden was born, later moved elsewhere, and in the eighteenth century a cavalry barracks. The bombing of 1943 brought down the whole roof of the only shed left.
After the war the architect Giovanni Michelucci conceived a park dedicated to Galileo for the whole Cittadella, but the project was never completed. The redevelopment came only after 2010, when the city bought the area: three years of work and about five million euros, mostly from European funds.
Today the space hosts temporary exhibitions as well as weddings and receptions. My advice is to look at the arches with a historian's eye: they are the only concrete trace of the time when Pisa dominated the Mediterranean.