the exhibition

The Artisan Historical Exhibition (Mo.S.A.) of the Military Arsenal Museum of Taranto was inaugurated in June 1979 and is located inside a building that is part of the first group of buildings of the Arsenale.

Among the many relics on display, the rudder of the Cristoforo Colombo ship and its transom in carved wood stand out. You can also admire, in their beauty and perfection, various scale models of ancient sailing ships and ships of the modern era, several of which were built in the Arsenale (Nave Puglia, Nave Quarto, the Messina ferry, and others.). Of the Nave Puglia, the first built in the Arsenale, some of the original drawings are exhibited, as well as photos of the layout and launch, which took place in 1898.

background

The ambitious project to equip the city of Taranto with an important naval base began in the second half of the 1800s, strongly supported by the senator from Taranto Cataldo Nitti. However, it took years, preliminary studies and many design changes before starting the large construction site for which the area of ​​Santa Lucia occupied by the medieval church of the same name and the eighteenth-century Villa del Vescovo Capocelatro was selected.

The works were started in September 1883 and ended on August 21, 1889 with the solemn inauguration presided over by King Umberto I. During the excavation of the land important archaeological areas were brought to light, which despite the limited documentation produced (such as unfortunately it was the practice of the time), can be interpreted as probable port facilities of the classical age and vast areas of necropolis from both the Greek and Roman times. Many of the artifacts found during these interventions are now kept inside the display cases of the MArTa, the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto.

At the end of the activities, the entire complex would have occupied a total area of ​​about 220,000 square meters physically separated from the rest of the city by a surrounding wall seven meters high and over three kilometers long that the people of Taranto called "the massive wall".

Scenographically overlooking a large square and clearly visible through the large gate, the main building is characterized by the purity of the lines typical of the stylistic features of the Umbertine neoclassical style. The two floors of the building are surmounted by a sloping roof at the center of which is the large mechanical clock that has marked the rhythm of the workers' working day for over a century.