This photo of a portion of the Arsenale was taken during an all too brief helicopter flight when I was last in Venice.
An art exhibition earlier in my stay had provided the opportunity to get into the northern entry to the Arsenale, and the chance to prowl around that part of the site. (You can click on any of the images to enlarge them.)
The spirits of the men who had worked here seemed to imbue the area with a special feeling.
By chance, I found that the masegni (paving stones) that had been removed for the work on the campanile in Piazza San Marco, had been brought here for safe keeping . Each one was numbered, and photos had been taken to show where each stone had to be replaced.
Hello World 
Really, we went on a “visita al chiaro di luna all’Arsenale militare” on July 26th last year, they do do them occasionally We saw it listed in La Nuova and you had to sign up with the naval personnel at the monumental entrance from something like 9am on the day you wanted to go. They did 4 or 5 evenings over the course of a fortnight then and I’ve seen it in the paper once more since, in the autumn I think. Everyone had to take their passports/ID cards!
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I’ll keep my eyes open next time I’m in Venice, Caroline.
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I would like to visit every part of it ….It’s lovely
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Same here. Ana. Maybe Gian or Stefano could arrange that for us? 🙂
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I think it is almost possible now, if you are here at the right time. Between the official Biennale spaces, the less-official Biennale spaces in the Arsenale Nord and the moonlight tour of the military sections, I think we’ve covered just about all of it (although not the interiors of all the military buildings).
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I don’t think so…it’s a military zone…they don’t open the area for visitors :(.Werner was there for ”Mare Maggio”, But I called and they told me they don’t make it anymore…but maybe who knows….one year… ;)…I follow them 😉
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We always seem to want what is off limits, don’t we!
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So, we missed the north side again on our last interlude. Fascinating women kept showing up to share our time…
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That what you folks get for being so friendly and hospitable.
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Superbe le diaporama de cette partie de l’Arsenale.
Il y a de nombreuses années je suis passée avec le vaporetto par la porte nord, c’était magique ! Mais il a été supprimé ensuite..
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Buona giornata, Danielle! I do wish they would open that vaporetto route again!
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When we went on the ‘moonlight tour’ of the Arsenale, the guide said it was stopped as the moto ondoso was damaging the foundations of the oldest part of the docks. Prior to that we’d assumed it was for security purposes since the route goes through the military area.
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Ah!! I’d always thought it was the security angle, Caroline.
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Approaching the ‘Arsenale Nord’ from the Celestia end via the metal walkway, the Biennale collateral events this year start right from when you enter the ex-workshops from the walkway just after crossing the bridge. There is some fantastic use of the space and its industrial remnants, such as artworks draped over the remains of old furnaces! And it’s extensive – we only managed what I estimate to be a third to half of the Arsenale Nord exhibitions on our first trip (nearly 3 hours) yesterday – never mind the ‘official’ Arsenale Biennale space!
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I am so happy for you, being able to really take your time to explore the many unofficial sites. Do you think you’ve made a good lifestyle choice? 🙂
(I don’t know about eating nervetti, though. Bleh.)
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Now we are on holiday again it seems like a good lifestyle choice – less so when we are working 🙂 But I suppose that as a trade-off, 9 months of the year doing a job I don’t like against an anual 3 month ‘holiday in Venice’ is pretty good!
Btw, wee current vignette – it’s 6.40am and a cruise ship is blowing its horn on its way out!! B*stards!!!
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Growl for that Grande Nave!
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A helicopter ride over Venice – WOW, that must have been spectacular.
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It really was, Darlene, although it was a very overcast day. Next time, maybe I’ll spring for a longer flight.
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I was just talking about that art exhibit recently. I have a nice photo of you taking a photo that day.
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It really was a good exhibition, aside from being able to get into that part of the Arsenale, Barb.
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Great slide show. Love the submarine. Can’t you just see it chugging along the Grand Canal?
118 days!
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I never thought of the submarine in use on the Grand Canal! The tourists would go crazy. So, just under 17 weeks, then!
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Actually I was joking about using the submarine in the Grand Canal….but there is that movie “Sharks in Venice” so there are stranger things
Wow! 17 weeks makes it seem so near. And only 78 working days left!
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Actually there was a (yellow!) submarine in the Grand Canal a couple of Biennales back, outside Ca’ Foscari, as part of their exhibition by a Russian artist. For images, you can google Alexander Ponomarev Sub Tiziano.
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Thanks for that, Caroline!
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Numbers and photos. Good ideas!
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And, I hadn’t given one thought to the tons of paving stones that would have been removed. A fellow who was involved in the moving to and fro just happened to be there that morning, and explained it all to me.
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