In the port of Genoa tens of historical finds between anchors and guns are found again



In the course of the last dredgings in the port of Genoa various guns and anchors of particular interest for the history of the capital of Liguria are recovered. The historical manufactured products, studied by the Supervisions and experts of the NavLab (Marine and Naval History Laboratory of the University of Genoa) and currently subordinates to a process of desalinizzazione in a protected area of Bettolo Descent, will be restored and offered to the citizenship in permanent public exposure. To this end the Ministry of the Assets and the cultural activities and tourism, in collaboration with the Harbour Authority of Genoa, is studying a project of exposure and technical-historical illustration, also to the aim to estimate and to retrieve the necessary private backer economic coverages eventually addressing subject.

The Harbour Authority and the Ministry have announced that the anchors and the recovered guns testify the activity of the port of Genoa between the XIV one and the 20th century and anticipates numerous references to the contacts with other marinerie. In particular, almost three meters and of the weight of about a ton are recovered five seventeenth-century in strained iron, long muzzle-loader guns, of probable English production, two light guns to breechloading in forged iron, brandeggiabili by hand from a single person, long a heavy meter and means and less than a quintal, datable between the end of the 1500's and the half of the 1600's, a falconetto in heavy long bronze about two meters and about two quintals, that the brand of the family anticipates Inns, active Venetian smelters in the second half of the 1500's (of this mouth set fire are famous a twin, coming copy from the port of Genoa and exposed to the Galata Museum of the Sea). The anchors recovered, realized in iron, in almost the totality of the cases forged, offer an interesting cracked on the evolution endured in the last tre-quattro centuries: between the more meaningful objects they figure an be-eighteenth-century copy of local invoice, a Rodger's Small Palms, one of the first object of patent (1832), exemplary type British Admiralty (1841), various anchors to mobile iron stock, a rare example to fixed stock of wood of imposing dimensions and weight (five meters and four tons), the only one up to now recovered in Italian waters, and more recent exemplary to anchor arms you furnish, similar to those in use to the days ours.

"The value of the finds found and the their perfect conservation after the dredging - it has emphasized the president of the Harbour Authority, Luigi Merlo - demonstrate to the cure and the precaution of the enterprises involved in the yard: the area to sea and earth has been object of attention by all the involved subjects. The amount of found material certifys the historical capacity of the dredging work, that it gives back to Genoa little ones great pieces of its more ancient and more recent history. The effort that now remains to make is that to give back to our time this material to the citizens all".

From the July of the 2009 port of Genoa it is subject in fact to the greatest work than dredging never happened in its millenarian history. During these work twenty weapons are recovered among other things, currently all defused and carried in sure areas. The last one recovered is a device from 500 pounds dealt last week.

During the work of dredging, entirely financed by the Harbour Authority with 68 million euros and a yard that is previewed in closing in December 2015, they are disposed (and, once monitored, use for the fillings of Bettolo Descent) beyond three millions and a half of cubic metres of material. The backdrops will be carried to compatible quotas to navigation of mercantile ships of elevated tonnage and to the berthing of the most modern cruise ships. The areas interested from the dredgings have been: the channel of Sampierdarena, the area of the super basin, Descent Health, the dry docks, the basin of evolution, the Ancient Port, Massawa Descent, English Descent, descent Coat, the Port Oils, the settling tank of the Polcevera torrent, the zone between Ronco Bridge West and the dock Italsider of East, the mouth of West of the basin of evolution and the before channel of calm the Italsider dock south.