The arsenal is located to the west of the city and was built in 1264. This was the place for all naval activity in 13th Century Pisa. In the 13th Century, under grand duke Cosimo I, the arsenal was used to breed horses for use in the army. In the 18th and 19th centuries it became barracks and military warehousing and it was damaged by enemy bombings in WWII. Brick arches in the defence walls along the Arno River are visible today and now it is the home of an archaeological exhibition of Roman and Etrurian harbours.
