Tour of the Venice Arsenal
Boat tour to the Arsenal
Arsenale di Venezia by boat
The tour continues along the walls, dry docks, and entrance to the Venice Arsenal, an ancient shipyard complex forming a vast area in the city’s easternmost part.
The Arsenal was the heart of Venice’s naval industry starting in the 12th century, playing a crucial role during the Republic’s golden age. The mighty ships built here enabled Venice to challenge the Ottomans in the Aegean Sea and secure trade routes in Northern Europe.
The Venice Arsenal prefigured the concept of modern industrial production by centuries, employing an assembly-line system with about 2,000 workers.
San Michele
After Murano, on the return journey to Venice, the tour passes by San Michele Island, which is almost entirely occupied by Venice’s monumental cemetery.
Originally consisting of two separate islands, the current island was created in the early 19th century by filling the canal that once divided them.
Among the notable figures buried on San Michele are the Venetian historian Pompeo Molmenti, the painter Emilio Vedova, the football coach Helenio Herrera, and, in the Greek Orthodox section, the composer Igor Stravinsky.