MUSEO STORICO NAVALE

The Naval History Museum, founded in 1919, is located near the Arsenale, in one of the ancient barns of Venice. Its collections are related to those formed under the Republic of Venice, when the models of shipbuilders were kept in the arsenal of a special building "The House of Models", which at the time of the Venetian Republic corresponded to the archive of the projects. The models replaced the design drawn from them that, in scale compared, it was the ship's construction to the natural. Some of the old models of the Republic, escaped the looting of the Arsenal in 1797, are now kept in the museum, which displays not only relics of Venetian boats, but also models of ships built in the Arsenale at the time of the French and Austrian occupation (1797 -1866) and models of the Italian Navy from yesterday to today. The variety of models on display, however, goes beyond the boundaries of Venice, to accommodate an exceptional collection of model boats used for fishing in the seas of China and the Far East. The most spectacular model is the Bucentaur, the Doge's ship ceremony boat. In addition to the models, on display in the museum are also authentic relics of the wars of the sea. Part of the museum is the "Hall of Ships", located near the Arsenal Bridge and open only on Saturday (2:30; 4:00 p.m.) and Sunday (11:00 and 12:30 a.m.; 4:30 p.m.) at set times for a maximum of 25 participants. An area of two thousand square meters, in which there are also some examples of typical Venetian boats, gondolas, ancient ceremonial boat, lagoon from work; and then military vessels, for example, one of the few remaining torpedo boats to our Navy after World War II, and racing boats, such as the most famous of the Thirties "Ace" (hull Baglietto, Isotta Fraschini engine, pilot Cattaneo).