Welcome Reception
Date: Thursday 20 September 2012, 19-00-21.00
All delegates are invited to join us for the 2012 Welcome Reception which will be held in the meeting venue, the Palazzo del Casino. A hot and cold light buffet will be available as well as a range of beverages.
Social Event
Date: Friday 21 September 2012, 19.30-24.00
Location: Arsenale di Venezia (Venice Arsenal)
Transport: Boats will be provided to take you to the venue and return you to Venice
The 2012 ESDR social event will be held in a spectacular setting - an 800-year old naval warehouse. Set among historic Venetian buildings and overlooking the location of the Venice Biennial, the 2012 social event will be a memorable evening of networking and socialising with new and old friends.
About the Venice Arsenal
The Venetian Arsenal was a complex of state-owned shipyards and armories clustered together. It was responsible for the bulk of Venice's naval power in the Mediterranean during the middle part of the second millennium AD, and was one of the earliest large-scale industrial enterprises in history.
Venice's wealth and power rested in her ability to control trade in the Mediterranean. This would not have been possible without an extremely large navy and merchant force. By 1450, over 3,000 Venetian merchant ships were in operation, both as supply ships for Venetian merchants and as warships for the Venetian navy. This amazingly large amount of ships required constant maintenance and outfitting.
The construction of the Arsenale in its present structure began around 1104, during Venice Republic, when it became the largest industrial complex in Europe of the time, spanning an area of about 45 ha (110 acres). Actually, the Byzantine-style establishment may have existed as early as the 8th century. In 1320 an even larger Arsenale (Arsenale nuovo) was built, where warships and merchant vessels could be both built and maintained. Surrounded by a defensive wall 2 miles long (3.2 km) shielding it from public view and guards protecting its perimeter, the Arsenal, was divided in different areas, each manufacturing a particular ship part or other maritime equipment, such as munitions, ropes, rigging and so on. These parts were then assembled and the ship could sail from the port of Venice. It became an important centre for rope manufacturing and housing for workers were built outside its walls. In the early 16th century, the Arsenale employed up to 16,000 workers and built almost one ship each day: a production line not seen again until the Industrial Revolution.
Within the shipyards new firearms were also developed, from bombards to small arms. The weapons manufactured here were also known for their multi-purpose utility, so much as the new lighter-weight artillery form Arsenale was first used on mobile carriages for field use.
In the late 16th century, the Arsenale designers experimented with larger ships as platforms for heavy naval guns. The most impressive was the galleass, already used against Ottoman Turks. In 1593 Galileo Galilei became an external consultant to the Arsenale, advising military engineers and instrument designers, and helping solving shipbuilders' problems. He was also responsible for creating some major innovations in the production and logistics of the site. As a result of his interactions with the Arsenal, Galileo published a book later in his life addressing a new field of modern science, that concerned with the strength and resistance of materials. This science largely saw its roots in the knowledge of the shipwrights of the Venetian Arsenal.
The Arsenale main gate Porta Magna was built around 1460; in 1687 the two lions were placed at its sides. One of the lions is notable for the runic defacements carved in it by invading Scandinavian mercenaries during the 11th century. Propelled both by sails and oars, it was a floating fortress, with guns mounted on wheeled carriages along the sides. Only a few ones were built due to its slowness in battle.
The Arsenal produced the majority of Venice's maritime trading vessels until the fall of the Republic to Napoleon's conquest of the area in 1797, when significant parts were destroyed. It was then rebuilt to enable its present use as naval base, research centre, exhibition venue, and historic boat preservation centre.
