Pisa’s Museum of the Ancient Ships

Bill Lescher
2 min readAug 25, 2022

--

Consider visiting Pisa’s Museum of the Ancient Ships if you’re considering a trip to Tuscany. More than 400 pieces of ancient marine art are on display in the museum. Battleships, canoes, and even pirate ships are among these items. Additionally, you can study the development of shipbuilding and repair.

The museum houses one of Italy’s largest collections of historic naval shipwrecks. It is situated on the Lungarno Ranieri Simonelli inside the Arsenali Medicei. In the museum, there are sizable replicas of old ships that have been restored. After a discovery was made during the construction of a control center, the museum was founded in 1998.

There are eight sections in the museum. While the other seven concentrate on the connection between the city and the sea, the first one demonstrates Pisa’s history. Because Pisa is surrounded by water, there has always been a significant maritime presence in the city. Despite the uncomfortable conditions of life at sea, many of the exhibits depict how sailors survived, prepared meals, and entertained themselves.

A great place to learn about the past of ancient ships is the Museum of the Ancient Ships of Pisanus. Seven ships and other artifacts from the third to the seventh centuries AD are found there. It includes displays of products, people, and cultural elements from the Mediterranean region in addition to ancient ships. The museum is housed within the Cosimo I-built Arsenali Medicei. The structure was formerly a shipyard. It has been restored, though, and is now a museum.

A day trip to the Pissa Museum of the Ancient Ships is highly recommended. After spending some time at the museum, you can go exploring on your own. You can take as much time as you’d like because this museum is free. However, if you only have a short amount of time, we advise scheduling a tour. It’s a fantastic way to view Pisa from a different angle.

The Historical Ships Museum, which showcases seven historic ships from the Roman era, is another important attraction for a day trip to Pisa. In San Rossore, close to the train station, the first ship was discovered. Following the establishment of a sizable excavation site, the second and third ships were found. The ongoing efforts of the MiBAC and numerous archeologists made this possible.

A historic bell tower created by Giovanni Pisano between 1302 and 1311 is housed in the Museum of the Ancient Ships of Pisa. The structure has slender towers, semicircular arches, and a gothic design. The bell tower was supposed to be 185 feet tall when it was first designed, but work on it was put on hold for almost a century. The foundations were given time to settle during this construction break, preventing an early collapse.

--

--

Bill Lescher

Bill Lescher began his academic efforts with systems and aeronautical engineering degrees from the Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School.