Arsenale di Venezia, February 2017
Construction of the Arsenal began in around 1004, with a major expansion in 1320, and addition of the main gate (seen above) in 1460. Encircled by 4 km of 8 metre high walls, it reached its industrial peak in the 16th century. At this point it had produced over 3000 ships, it occupied at least a tenth of Venice, and 16000 people lived and worked there.
Looking it from the main gate, it is not possible to appreciate the size and strength of this place. To get some idea, take a look at the clip below. This is part of a fascinating BBC series showing the normally-invisible interior of Italian cities. Skip to 32:20 minutes to see the Arsenale, but I strongly recommend watching the whole thing if you would like an intimate view of amazing Venice.
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Copyright Debbie Smyth, 2 March 2017
Part of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
Travel with Intent 
Nice read!
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Terrific entry for this week. Thanks Debbie.
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Thanks Cee.
It will be fun working through the alphabet with you
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A lovely photo Debbie 🙂 I can’t believe you took it without a tripod.
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F4, ISO 1250, 1/30 second!
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It’s a shame it’s not open to the public, it’s such a fascinating place. I was so lucky to be taken on a tour by a member of the Biennale staff, I’ll never forget that.
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Yes, I would love to see more. Wow, you were lucky! I must be extra polite to the staff when I go to Biennale and see if I can get a tour too!
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I think I had noticed the tours advertised in the daily newspaper, Debbie.
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and three ships a day? that was ahead of their time!
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Yes, just amazing industrial turnover. I’m sure many businesses today would learn lessons from them
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🙂
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debbie – this is fascinating – and I did skip ahead a bit = and what a great idea for a series…. and your night photo is beauitful
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Thanks Yvette. I went out for a walk on my last night there. Should have taken my tripod really as I could have played around more then. But cameras are very obliging on auto these days!
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and so good to have options…. 🙂
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I enjoyed visiting the Arsenale for the Venice Biennale Arte in 2015. What a fabulous place to hold art exhibitions. I liked it better than Giardini exhibition space. Thank you are the memory
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Yes, I loved Carneval, but now I must get over for Biennale
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