The story of this place
Founded around 1104 and vastly expanded from 1320, the Arsenal was the industrial engine of Venice's maritime empire—a walled complex of shipyards, armouries, and rope-works that at its height employed up to 16,000 workers. Using standardised parts and a moving production line centuries before Henry Ford, it could reportedly assemble and launch a fully equipped galley in a single day; during the 1570 Ottoman threat it is said to have turned out roughly 100 ships in weeks. Dante, who visited, described its boiling pitch in the 'Inferno.' The word 'arsenal' itself derives from the Arabic 'dar as-sina'a' by way of Venice. Its Renaissance gateway, guarded by ancient lions looted from Greece, still stands.