Sunday 30 March, coinciding with the arrival in Venice of the Amerigo Vespucci ship – the oldest in the Navy – and the Villaggio IN Italia, the MUNAV Naval History Museum of Venice inaugurates the reopening of the Padiglione delle Navi, a magical place where the artisans of the Arsenal once built the oars for the galleys and presents the new services for the public, the coordinated image, the multilingual audio guide and the projects created by D’Uva, a company that has been operating for over 65 years in the interpretation of cultural heritage and museum management, and which has started an activity of valorization and renewal of the most important Italian naval museum.

The MUNAV is now made more inclusive thanks to the proposal of a rich audio guide included in the entrance ticket that accompanies visitors to discover the history of the Serenissima.

The Ships Pavilion: a rediscovered treasure, waiting to be discovered!

Among the new features of the exhibition, the reopening of the Padiglione delle Navi, which can be visited in its entirety, in the place that since the sixteenth century has housed the workshops of the remèri of the Arsenale, where skilled craftsmen made the long oars intended for galleys and galleasses using carefully selected and seasoned wood. It is a surface area of approximately 3000 m2 which houses very interesting relics for the history of modern naval construction. A unique heritage that ranges from typical lagoon boats (gondolas, fishing boats, work boats) to warships, from the engine of the motor vessel Elettra, Guglielmo Marconi’s yacht, to the beautiful hull of the so-called Scalè Reale.

The audio guide: a journey with the voices and stories of 58 protagonists

The audio guide is made up of 109 listening points. Each stop allows the visitor to explore not only the great events and epic battles, but also the traditions, technological innovations, stories of courage and ingenuity that have marked the indissoluble relationship between Venice and the sea, between the Navy and its protagonists.

The characters of the audio guide

Along the way, you will meet legendary figures who have marked the history of the sea. The arsenalotto introduces the visitor to the feverish life of the Arsenal, the galley-bound rower tells of the hard life aboard a Venetian galley, between incessant fatigue, punishments, misery and relentless battles while Björn, the Viking, reveals the secrets of Scandinavian navigation, telling of stars used as a compass and ravens launched into the sky to find the route to the mainland. The doge Francesco Morosini, nicknamed the Peloponnesian, tells of his exploits in the wars against the Turks, from the siege of Candia to the conquest of the Morea, up to the tragic explosion of the Parthenon.
Lazzaro Mocenigo, Captain General of the Sea, recounts his victories in the Dardanelles, interrupted by his sudden death when the mainmast collapsed on him in battle. Selim II recalls the Ottoman defeat at Lepanto in 1571, marked by the unexpected power of the Venetian galleasses. Sebastiano Venier and Francesco Duodo exalt those galleasses, which at Lepanto consecrated Venetian supremacy. Lodovico Giovanni Manin recalls the Bucintoro, symbol of the power of the Serenissima, and its last Marriage of the Sea in 1796, before the Republic fell and the sumptuous galley was destroyed by Napoleon’s French, while Giacomo Casanova recalls the secret Venice, where the felze of the gondolas concealed forbidden loves and daring escapes.

We then move on to the technological innovations that revolutionized warfare at sea. Paolo Thaon di Revel tells how he revolutionized naval warfare in the First World War with torpedo motorboats, sinking the Austrian battleships Szent István and Viribus Unitis. In the twentieth century, raiders such as Teseo Tesei and Luigi Durand de La Penne recall their secret missions, from the invention of the slow-running torpedo to the sabotage of enemy ships through silent and daring dives. Guglielmo Marconi tells the story of the Elettra, the laboratory ship of his revolutionary discoveries. From the first radio signals to modern radio broadcasting.

Who made the audio guide

The audio guide was written by Ilaria D’Uva and Francesca Ummarino. Audio production was entrusted to Paolo Iafelice with his Adesiva Discografica and to Mario Panari with his MP Communication, who took care of the recordings and editing of the audio guide.

The direction is by Ilaria D’Uva and Paolo Iafelice. The voices of the characters are interpreted by an exceptional cast, including Diego Ribon, Teresa Fallai, Stefano Skalkotos, Daniele Parisi, Livio Pacella and Claude Proserpio.

The narration features the special participation of Admiral Dario Giacomin, who tells the story of the submarine Enrico Dandolo that he commanded, Manuel Bognolo who tells the life of Venetian fishermen and the ancient art of fishing for moeche and Roberta Camerino who remembers her mother Giuliana, a stylist and collector, whose precious collection of shells lives today in the museum. The sound design was curated by Paolo Iafelice with the support of Daniele Piras di D’Uva.

This audio guide is dedicated to Annarita Panebianco, a friend who disappeared in the waters of the lagoon, to whom we have dedicated many stories.