Museo Storico Navale di Venezia

Il Museo Storico Navale di Venezia is a very interesting place to visit especially if you are interested in naval battles etc.  We were not so interested in the extensive more recent part of the collection but spent a long time looking at the older pieces and excellent models.

There are some really well-crafted models of old vessels from Roman times to times when the Venetian navies had a powerful influence.  There is a beautiful model of the last Bucintoro -the  ceremonial boat used by the Doges. The last Bucintoro was burnt by the French in the late 1700s - Napoleon wrecking another bit of Venice. 

We have been meaning to visit this museum for years and are glad that we finally did. We were there for a long while but you could spend many hours if you are interested in WW1 and WW2 naval battles and artifacts. It is absolutely worth a visit.

A highly decorated old Venetian cannon. The photos below show some of the detail

 The Venice lion was on everything

There were many old maps and models.  

This was of the city and fortress of Corfu and was dated 1692

Model of the Bucintoro

 If you're really interested, this is the info about the Bucintoro from the museum

There are many fragments and whole carved and gilded figureheads

Decorations on restored panels from the side of a Galley