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If you're planning to visit the Leaning Tower, you might also want to take the opportunity to see what is being hailed as perhaps the greatest archeological naval discovery in history – and the way it came about is as Italian as it gets. Seems that about seven years ago, the national railroad company decided to build an electrical station in the marshy flatlands which lie about 500 yards from the tower (as the crow flies). This is one of the few places in Italy that has absolutely no aesthetic value, but the moist clay of the swamps has invisible powers: it is the perfect medium for preserving the hardest element to preserve – wood! Lo and behold, as the railroad crews began to dig, they found themselves uncovering no fewer than 30 almost perfect wooden boats dating from 200 BC to 500 AD. Inside the boats were more than 1000 amphoras, originally used to transport treasures from as far away as Africa to Italy through this, one of the country's busiest harbors. Today the site is so swampy that seven feet of fetid water must be constantly drained off by pumps. Eventually, these truly rare wonders of the ancient world will have their own museum in the city of Pisa itself, but that may not occur in our lifetimes, and meanwhile if you plan well, you can actually visit the dig itself, along with scores of eager archeologists.

The boats can be seen at the Cantiere delle Navi Antiche di Pisa, Tuesday-Sunday, 9am-5pm. See this web site for directions and contact information. If you make a special trip to Pisa for this, we recommend you call ahead to make sure the museum will be open.

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