Special Treat: We Can Get Into the Arsenale

I'm taking this from Frommer's online guide because I can't find my notes and I'm too lazy to search for them:

"Occupying one-fifth of the city's total acreage, the arsenal was once the very source of the republic's maritime power. It is now used as a military zone and is as closed as Fort Knox to the curious. The marble-columned Renaissance gate, with the republic's winged lion above, is flanked by four ancient lions, booty brought at various times from Greece and points farther east. It was founded in 1104, and at the height of Venice's power in the 15th century, it employed 16,000 workers who turned out merchant and wartime galley after galley on an early version of massive assembly lines at speeds and in volume unknown until modern times."

You think your job is bad? Dante is supposed to have used the Arsenale as inspiration for one of his circles of hell!

I tried for years to get into the Arsenals (it's still considered a naval base and therefore access is restricted). I finally made it in a few years ago.

Today, I found a way for us to get in (if interested). On Saturday 23rd May - the Arsenale theater (Teatro Piccolo Arsenale) is presenting: Martha Graham: classical mythologies and modern identities, video commented by Susanne Franco. It starts at 4pm and it's free. We should be able to wander around inside the Arsenale and avoid the video, if so desired.

The top photo shows one of those lions. I took the other one inside the Arsenale.

Let me know what you think.