And as in the Venetian arsenal
A viscous resin boils in winter, To smear the plows, those that are dilapidated, And everyone is doing winter business:
That one gets along the oars, this one clogs
A gap in the body that was leaking;
Who fixes the nose, and who rivets the stern;
Who is working to make a new plow;
Who twists the tackle, who patches the sails …
Dante Alighieri. 21st song of "Hell"
Military museums in Europe. Today we continue to get acquainted with the weapon collections of various European museums. The object of our trip will be the Venetian Naval History Museum. In order to be there, you must first get to Venice, and this is interesting in itself. Therefore, the story about this museum will be built according to the scheme of travel notes, so that those who read this material could imagine the beauty there as accurately as possible. Indeed, among the visitors of the site "VO" there are many people "with secrecy up to five years." So when they retire, they will have to wait for another five years to get where they want to be. In a word, we are now "going" to Venice and will begin our acquaintance with it not from the traditional St. Mark's Square, the Cathedral and the Doge's Palace, but from the Maritime Museum. And the reason for this is only one and rather unusual - few tourists reach it, and it is also quite cool there in the summer Venetian heat!
On the seas, on the waves - there is no other way
Let's start with how people generally get to Venice. There are only two paths. The first is a railway and a station within the city, and a bus. Automobile? Yes, of course, but in this case you will have to leave it in the parking lot, then change to a boat, because there are simply no cars in Venice, so even a taxi there is a motor boat.
So, we go from the stop to the port, sit down there on a decent-sized double-deck boat, and sail to the very center of Venice. The berths of the boats are located there one after the other. But wherever you dock: both St. Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace are all within walking distance. By the way, the first thing that catches your eye when you approach it from the sea is … the seclusion of all these buildings. By the way, Venice itself is very small, and all its palaces, even if they are four or five floors, do not give the impression of tall buildings at all. The same is the square of St. Mark itself. It is only on the TV screen that it is large, but in reality, it is quite small. And, to the limit filled with people! And with each new boat, the crowd gets bigger. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians … God, whoever is not here. Well, ours, of course, where without us …
It's good to be with a guide, but it's better to show independence
Usually, the guides of our Russian tour operators, even before arriving in Venice, collect money for lunch at a local restaurant with local cuisine (20 euros per person) and for riding on gondolas (also 20), after which they quickly transfer you to the local guide on the square, who hastily showed - "left, right …", leads the whole group to the Rialto Bridge, where this notorious restaurant is located. In my opinion, such a route should not be followed. Firstly, this way you are guaranteed not to get into the Doge's Palace, and there is something to see, and for lovers of ancient weapons I will note that it also has its own wonderful Arsenal with a wonderful collection of medieval weapons and armor (a story about it will certainly follow, but later!), and secondly,you will have to hustle along with the crowds of tourists through the narrow Venetian streets all the way to the Rialto Bridge. It is, of course, interesting, but for me personally it was more interesting to see the "Bridge of Sighs", and not only outside, but also to visit it inside.
Who can ride a gondola, who can go to museums
So if you are more attracted to the informative side of visiting Venice, and not the entertainment, then stay in St. Mark's Square. Take the elevator to the bell tower, go to St. Mark's Cathedral, inspect the Doge's Palace, eat there in a cafe located in the basement by the water, and gondolas will float right in front of you behind the glass door, and then … then, tired of the heat and crowds tourists, go left from the palace along the embankment. One, two, three … five bridges will need to be crossed (but in fact it is very close) and on the left on the bank of the canal you will see a five-story building (looks like our four-story!) Of dark red color. You can also recognize him by two large anchors standing at his door. This will be the Naval History Museum of Venice.
We go inside and enjoy the coolness there, because in Venice itself in summer it is simply hot, but very hot. By the way, this and the sun umbrellas will need to be thought about in advance. Especially if women are with you. After all, your suitcases and all your luggage remain on the tour bus. For example, we came to Berlin and had only one beach umbrella, albeit a small one. And … it began to rain immediately, and since it was not a Camilfo for my wife to walk with a beach umbrella in the capital of Germany, I had to buy her a "Berlin umbrella". We arrived in Venice, and there seemed to be a breeze blowing from the sea. That is why they didn’t take the umbrella, but take the breeze and calm down. And then the granddaughter felt uncomfortable … She was clearly overheated in the sun. And I had to buy her a "Venetian umbrella". Not bad, of course, but in my opinion, three umbrellas in one trip is a little overkill.
So the coolness of the museum will certainly refresh you. And the lack of crowds of tourists. Because with each new bridge there are fewer and fewer of them, and only a few reach the museum!
Enemy anchors as a keepsake
Although the same anchors that meet you at the entrance are also nothing more than very interesting exhibits related to the history of the Italian fleet. They belong to the Austro-Hungarian battleships Viribus Unitis and Tegethof. The first was destroyed by Italian combat swimmers at the very end of the First World War, and the second came to the Italians as a trophy and was held in front of the ships of the Italian fleet during the "Victory Parade" in 1919, and then in 1925 was scrapped.
It is interesting that this year this museum has a real anniversary: it turned exactly 100 years since its foundation in 1919, but it has been in its current building only since 1964. However, this building itself is also a monument, since it was built in the 15th century. Here was an arsenal barn, where grain was stored, flour was ground from it and biscuits were baked, which were the main food of the galley rowers. So the museum is large enough, although it does not seem so. There are 42 halls in it, and their total area is 4000 sq. M.
Torpedo and mortars
In the cool hall of the first floor, our attention is immediately attracted by the heavy mortars on the right and the human-controlled torpedo "Mayale" ("Piglet") installed on the left - a secret development of the Italian military engineers of the 30s of the last century. During the Second World War, these torpedoes were actively used by units of combat swimmers (a detachment of the 10th MAS flotilla) in the Mediterranean against the British. With their help, they managed to undermine and seriously damage several warships and transport ships, but the Italian admirals could not take advantage of the situation.
It is interesting that not only this torpedo itself is exhibited on the second floor, but also an airtight container in which such torpedoes were on the deck of a submarine. The Shire submarine, for example, had three such containers. Before the attack, the combat swimmers had to climb inside this container through the hatch, prepare the torpedo for launch, after which water entered it, they sat astride it, and the hemispherical cover opened, and the torpedo began to move towards the target. Finding themselves under the bottom of the enemy ship, they had to, using special clamps, which were attached to the port keels, stretch a cable under its bottom, and already on it fix a mine (torpedo bow) with an explosive charge of 200-300 kg, turn on the timer, and only after all this, swim back, saddling his "Piglet" again. And it was possible … to get ashore and surrender there, than in practice, due to numerous failures of equipment, these trips often ended! A wetsuit worn by these combat swimmers is also displayed here.
Ship models for every taste
One of the advantages of this museum is its visibility. It exhibits not only real objects, weapons, uniforms, naval instruments, and even life-size gondolas and barges, but also many models of ships, starting with an ancient Egyptian boat, made God knows when, for some, most likely, religious purpose. … For example, on the first one there are dioramas depicting 17th century ports and fortresses belonging to Italians, and all their architecture is visible on them at a glance. Here you can see models of both Phoenician and ancient Greek biremes and triremes, and all Asian boats - sampans, junks and proa. The first Venetian caravels and galleons, galleys and galeases, similar to those that participated in the historic battle of Christians with Muslims at Lepanto in 1571, and the first Italian battleships that participated in the equally famous naval battle of Lissa in 1866. There is a model of the famous battleship "Duilio", and one even in section, so that all its "stuffing" is visible very well. And on the fourth floor in the "Swedish Hall" (it is dedicated to the cooperation of the Swedish and Italian fleets), a beautifully executed model of the battleship "Vaza" is exhibited. Well, that very …
