Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
THE MOUTH OF THE LION
Next to the door of the Chiesa di San Martino you'll notice the face of a grimacing lion with his mouth agape.
There are a number of these
bocca di leoni
around Venice, dating from the 14th century, when Venetians were en-
couraged to post anonymous denunciations of their neighbours 'in the mouth of the lion'. These slanders reported
any number of unholy acts from cursing and tax avoidance (forgiveable) to Freemasonry (punishable by death)
and were investigated by Venice's dreaded security service, led by the Council of Ten.
MUSEO STORICO NAVALE
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
(
041 244 13 99; Riva San Biagio 2148; adult/student €1.55/free;
8.45am-1.30pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat;
;
Arsenale)
Maritime madness spans 42 rooms at this museum of Venice's seafaring his-
tory, featuring scale models of Venetian-built vessels as well as Peggy Guggenheim's not-
so-minimalist gondola. On the ground floor, 'the barn', you'll find sprawling galleries of
fearsome weaponry and 17th-century dioramas of forts and ports. Upstairs you can gawk
at a sumptuous model of the
bucintoro
, the doge's gilded ceremonial barge, destroyed by
Napoleonic troops in 1798.
Although the minutiae of some of the exhibits will mostly be of interest to enthusiasts
and specialists, the display illustrates the incredible span of Venetian power across the
Adriatic and Mediterranean over the centuries. In addition, the 2nd floor covers Italian
naval history and memorabilia, from unification to the present day, and on the 3rd floor is
a room devoted to gondolas, including Peggy Guggenheim's pimped-up ride.
The ticket also gets you entrance to the
Padiglione delle Navi
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(Ships
Pavilion; Fondamenta della Madonna; Arsenale)
, though at the time of writing it was only open
for special exhibitions. Of the many boats on display here, the most eye-catching is the
Scalé Reale, an early-19th-century ceremonial vessel used to ferry King Vittorio
Emanuele to Piazza San Marco in 1866 when Venice joined the nascent Kingdom of Italy.
The ship last set sail in 1959, when it brought the body of the Venetian Pope Pius X to rest
at the Basilica di San Marco
