Heraklion Venetian shipyards

At the port of Heraklion we see even today part of the shipyards (arsenals) consisting of large elongated domed rooms. They are the shipyards of the Venetians where they housed, stored, constructed and repaired their ships.

Each dome was destined for a galley and there were three different complexes of total 19 shipyards that were built in different chronological periods. The complexes were: Arsenali Antichi, Arsenali Vechi and Arsenali Nuovi.

Today we see only parts of five shipyards (4 out Vechi and 1 of Nuovi). The rest were totally destroyed during the construction of the seaside road in the early 20th century.

South and adjacent to the shipyard Nuovi we can still see the large water tank of Zane with a capacity of 20,000 barrels. On the other hand, to the west, we see the salt warehouse where the Venetians stored the precious salt traded across Europe.

In recent years the rooms are being restored towards hosting cultural events and exhibitions.