L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 15 L'Italo-Americano ELIZABETH SALTHOUSE ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES T aking its name from the A r a b i c f o r w o r k s h o p , Venice's Arsenale enor- mous shipyard was the real pow- erhouse of the city. Its 16,000 workers built an unrivalled navy enabling Venice to dominate eastern Mediterranean waters for centuries. They built galleons to transport cast quantities of cargo from the east, making Venice's merchants millionaires. And at their height they could produce a ship a day, fully kitted out with ropes, sails, cannons and a crew. So what was going on behind the enormous ramparts of this fortress and how did it grow to become one of the largest indus- trial production lines, centuries before Henry Ford developed his mass production assembly line? Venice's first shipyard A s a c i t y b u i l t o n t h e V e n e t i a n l a g o o n , e a r l y Venetians were a people of the w a t e r . T h e c i t y d i d n ' t h a v e much agricultural land to defend and so had little need for a large land army, but it did need to pro- tect itself from attack from the sea so turned to shipbuilding as part of its defense strategy. And the city quickly became expert in building ships. There's some debate over when shipbuilding first started at site of today's Arsenale. Some believe that it may have been established as early as the 8th century AD, which would tie into Venice's need to defend herself. But most historians date the start of the construction of the first formal shipyard to 1104 AD during the reign of Ordelafo Faliero de' Doni, a member of the Venetian elite and the 34th Doge or ruler of Venice. This d o c k y a r d w a s d e d i c a t e d t o building naval ships and was owned by the state. By 1320 the needs of the city and her residents were shifting. Venice's navy was dominating the Adriatic Sea, ridding it of pirates and so lucrative trade routes down to the Middle East w e r e a s s u r e d s a f e p a s s a g e . Trade through Venice increased rapidly and with it came the n e e d f o r m o r e t r a d i n g s h i p s w h i c h d r o v e t h e A r s e n a l e ' s development and extension into t h e m u c h l a r g e r A r s e n a l e Nuovo, or New Arsenale, that c o u l d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y b u i l d naval and merchant ships. T h e d o c k y a r d c o v e r e d a n immense 46 hectares or around 15 per cent of the historic city's total area and was protected by 15-foot tall crenelated fortress walls to stop either naval or commercial spies from stealing V e n i c e ' s u n i q u e p r o d u c t i o n techniques. Shipbuilding was not just big business in Venice, it was the business in Venice and would be the foundation upon which Venetians would make their fortunes. Mass production W h a t m a d e t h e A r s e n a l e great, however, wasn't just its size, but the 3 revolutionary ways it built ships. Firstly they standardized their ships developing a new galley that used less timber, a standard frame and a quicker building technique. Parts could be mass- produced in advance meaning that boats could be turned out much faster than their competi- tors and on an industrial scale. Similarly the ropes required for rigging were all made on site making the Arsenale an impor- tant rope manufacturer. And by the 1400s the armory, including cannons, was all being struck within the yard's impenetrable walls too. Venetians were not just master-shipbuilders but also masters of all the trades neces- sary to fit out a ship. S e c o n d l y t h e p r o d u c t i o n process was split into several stages, each with its own spe- cialized workforce. Up to 100 galleys could be under produc- tion in its workshops at any one time but instead of the workers moving round to service each new ship, as in other shipyards, the ships were physically moved through each expert stage. This meant that the skilled workers had their tools and materials immediately to hand and was j u s t a n o t h e r i n n o v a t i o n t h a t shaved days or even weeks off the construction time. And thirdly, they had a mas- sive workforce of around 16,000 expert arsenalotti most of whom lived in houses lining the streets and alleys of the Castello district that encircles the Arsenale. The men were professional crafts- m e n , s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s a n d r e n o w n e d a s t h e b e s t s h i p - builders of the day. And their skill afforded them a special position in the city too, being appointed as the private guard for the city's leader, the Doge, for all ceremonial occasions. The arsenalotti were a force to be reckoned with building boats that would conquer large parts of the Adriatic, Greece and even I s t a n b u l a n d t r a d e g a l l e o n s bringing silk, spices and gems that would make Venice rich. Without the arsenalotti, none of it would have been possible. I n i s o l a t i o n , e a c h o f t h e Venetian innovations was revo- l u t i o n a r y b u t w h e n p u l l e d together they led to the develop- ment of the world's first highly skilled, industrial-scale moving production line. At its peak in t h e 1 6 0 0 s t h e d o c k y a r d w a s Venice, Arsenale historic shipyard, Gate and Canal View— Photo by Bertl123 turning out a fully kitted out ship a day, its naval ships ruled the Adriatic waves and its mer- c h a n t s h i p s d o m i n a t e d t h e Eastern Mediterranean market. And Venice was growing very, very rich on the foundations laid by the Arsenale and its work- force. It's no wonder, then, that Venetians were so keen to pro- tect their industrial secrets with huge fortifications and 24-hour guards. Today the shipyard is still a naval zone and home to t h e D o g e ' s c e r e m o n i a l Bucintoro barge but its ware- houses stand silent, the ghosts of t h e s h i p s b u i l t t h e r e h a v i n g sailed. But don't be fooled by t h e q u i e t a s t h e A r s e n a l e ' s industrial legacy lives on in every brick of every Venetian palace built from riches made on t h e s e a . V e n i c e o w e s t h e Arsenale everything. The Arsenale in Venice – Moder n Mass Production in Medieval Times A shipyard at Arsenale, Venice, italy— Photo by blunker

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