Museo delle Navi Antiche, Archaeological museum in Arsenali Medicei, Pisa, Italy
The Museo delle Navi Antiche is an archaeological museum located in the renovated Medici Arsenal buildings in Pisa, focusing on ancient ships and maritime equipment. It displays actual ship remains and numerous objects recovered from excavations that document maritime life across different historical periods.
The museum opened in 2019 and occupies the former Medici Arsenal, which functioned as a shipyard during the 16th century. The ships and objects on display come from various periods of ancient Mediterranean civilizations and were discovered through excavations in the city.
The museum displays artifacts that reveal how ancient people traded goods and traveled across the Mediterranean. These objects show what daily maritime life looked like and how important ships were to connecting different civilizations.
The museum is located in the architecturally interesting Arsenal buildings beside the Arno River, so the setting itself is worth exploring. Plan to spend at least two hours to examine the ship remains and artifacts at a comfortable pace.
The ships were discovered under surprising conditions, buried beneath a parking lot and other modern structures along the Arno riverbank. This finding revealed how many archaeological treasures lay hidden beneath the modern city.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
