THE ARSENAL
Starting from 1200, the Arsenal was the public naval dockyard of Venice. Yet in 1400 this structure was the widest industrial park of the world with almost 3000 workers, named “Arsenalotti”, having a productive capacity of 6 galleys per month. Some people consider the Arsenal the first example of assembly line due to extraordinary management ability and modern coordination of all productive aspects.
The Arsenal gave Venice all the power necessary to dominate the trade routes and its importance was ratified in 1509, when it was named as “the heart of State from the Veneto”.
With its 32 hectares, this structure is most extended of Venice, a city of almost 670 hectares of territory, including its isles and canals.
A curiosity: the word “galley-slave”, one of the ways to define a prisoner, comes from the persons delegated to rowing on Venetian galleys. Often they were prisoners who serve their condemnation to hard labor rowing on galleys, because it was a very nerve-wracking activity.