Description
The Museo Tecnico Navale of the Italian Navy is the most important naval museum in Italy, in La Spezia, next to the main gate of the Arsenal. Ship models, figureheads, torpedoes and the assault craft of both world wars tell centuries of history at sea.
The numbers say a lot: more than 150 models of ships and boats, about 2,500 medals and 6,500 relics. The museum was created to keep alive the traditions of Italy's naval seafaring.
The room on naval evolution lines up the scale models: the sailing ships of the navies of the old Italian states, almost all the great ships launched at the La Spezia Arsenal between 1860 and 1910 and those of World War II.
Among the oldest pieces is the collection of figureheads from 15th-, 16th- and 17th-century vessels. The most mysterious is the Atalanta, an enigmatic wooden female figure fished out of the Atlantic in 1866.
The assault craft room is the richest in stories. Here are the remains of the Grillo, a model of MAS 15, and the prototype of the device with which Rossetti and Paolucci sank the Austrian battleship Viribus Unitis in the port of Pola, on November 1, 1918.
Next to it is the prototype of the Maiale ("Pig"), the human torpedo designed by Tesei and Toschi, with the explosive motorboats of the Assault Craft Group, which was born right here in La Spezia during World War II.
Another room follows the evolution of the torpedo, from the prototype used by the Navy in 1875 to those of the two world wars, with original sea mines.
Among the old weapons are 16th-century Moorish swivel guns, a Turkish small cannon from 1521 and a ten-barrel Gatling gun used by the Boxers. Don't overlook the photos of Guglielmo Marconi's first radio experiments. In the garden there are a propeller from the battleship Vittorio Veneto and Francesco Messina's bronze monument to Costanzo Ciano.
The museum's story begins around 1570 in Villefranche-sur-Mer, where the House of Savoy had the first base of its fleet. The collection then passed through Cagliari, in Napoleon's time, and Genoa from 1815.
In 1870, by Cavour's decision, the Navy's base moved to La Spezia, museum included. The bombings of World War II destroyed many pieces; in 1958 the museum reopened in its present rooms.
Don't miss
• The Atalanta figurehead.
• Tesei and Toschi's Maiale.
• The models of ships launched in La Spezia.
• The propeller of the Vittorio Veneto.
Did you know?
• It is said that the Atalanta can bewitch with her unsettling charm anyone who looks at her too long.
• Part of the hull of the Elettra, Marconi's ship, is on display in the garden.
The numbers say a lot: more than 150 models of ships and boats, about 2,500 medals and 6,500 relics. The museum was created to keep alive the traditions of Italy's naval seafaring.
The room on naval evolution lines up the scale models: the sailing ships of the navies of the old Italian states, almost all the great ships launched at the La Spezia Arsenal between 1860 and 1910 and those of World War II.
Among the oldest pieces is the collection of figureheads from 15th-, 16th- and 17th-century vessels. The most mysterious is the Atalanta, an enigmatic wooden female figure fished out of the Atlantic in 1866.
The assault craft room is the richest in stories. Here are the remains of the Grillo, a model of MAS 15, and the prototype of the device with which Rossetti and Paolucci sank the Austrian battleship Viribus Unitis in the port of Pola, on November 1, 1918.
Next to it is the prototype of the Maiale ("Pig"), the human torpedo designed by Tesei and Toschi, with the explosive motorboats of the Assault Craft Group, which was born right here in La Spezia during World War II.
Another room follows the evolution of the torpedo, from the prototype used by the Navy in 1875 to those of the two world wars, with original sea mines.
Among the old weapons are 16th-century Moorish swivel guns, a Turkish small cannon from 1521 and a ten-barrel Gatling gun used by the Boxers. Don't overlook the photos of Guglielmo Marconi's first radio experiments. In the garden there are a propeller from the battleship Vittorio Veneto and Francesco Messina's bronze monument to Costanzo Ciano.
The museum's story begins around 1570 in Villefranche-sur-Mer, where the House of Savoy had the first base of its fleet. The collection then passed through Cagliari, in Napoleon's time, and Genoa from 1815.
In 1870, by Cavour's decision, the Navy's base moved to La Spezia, museum included. The bombings of World War II destroyed many pieces; in 1958 the museum reopened in its present rooms.
Don't miss
• The Atalanta figurehead.
• Tesei and Toschi's Maiale.
• The models of ships launched in La Spezia.
• The propeller of the Vittorio Veneto.
Did you know?
• It is said that the Atalanta can bewitch with her unsettling charm anyone who looks at her too long.
• Part of the hull of the Elettra, Marconi's ship, is on display in the garden.