The headquarters are the Arsenali medicei, on the Pisan Lungarno, a series of warehouses used as arsenals for the construction and maintenance of the galleys of the Knights of Santo Stefano chivalric body used for naval defense against the Saracen threat. On the facade of the arsenals, in fact, a series of inscriptions commemorate the main victories of the knights against the Saracens. The arsenals soon fell into disuse and were occupied by military structures and then by stables. Until the first post-war period, they housed the horse breeding centre of the Italian Army; part of the stazzi and the structures used to shelter the horses have been kept in their original layout, to preserve the memory of this important historical phase.
A 1000-year-long story made of trades and sailors, routes and shipwrecks, navigation and life on board and the history of the city of Pisa. 800 exhibits displayed in 8 thematic sections, within which the sections of the museum unfold in a logical sequence. The city between the two rivers, Land and Water, The fury of the waters, Navalia, Ships, Trade, Navigation, Life on board.
