The Image and the City - The 16th Century	1/2
	The Arsenale and the fleet in the late sixteenth century
	The institution of the military fleet led to a vast architectural re-organisation of space in the Arsenale . From 1540 to 1570 the storerooms of the admiral were built, and the artillery deposits and the arms rooms were completely re-arranged. In accord with Giovanni da Zon's 1568 project, a wooden 'tezon' ('hut') was built, which was used for seasoning timber and its initial treatment; at the same time, an artificial basin known as the 'timber lake' was created for the immersion of oak in sea water. They then set about excavating canals which would completely isolate the Arsenale from the rest of Venice, an enterprise which was to drag on until the early seventeenth century. At the same time the great storerooms of the Corderie  ('rope-factory') were designed, though they were not actually begun until 1576, after the great victory of Lepanto .
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	Venezia e il mare Le isole, le fortezze, le difese contro i Turchi © 1997 by the VENIVA consortium