Darsena Salt Storehouse
Built in 1712, it was used to store salt that had first been cleaned and dried in the Torre Salt Storehouse, and then weighed and portioned into bags for sale.
The salt pans, divided into small lots, were worked individually and in an artisanal way by the salt workers, who represented almost the entire population of Cervia.
The need to preserve salt prompted the Papal administrators to build two large buildings along Cervia's canal port for this purpose.
The Darsena Storehouse, located on the opposite side of the canal compared to the Torre Storehouse, could hold up to 100,000 quintals of salt. The salt collected from spring until mid-September was loaded onto typical flat-bottomed boats called burchielle and transported through the Canal Harbour to the warehouses, where it could be stored. In order to make storage easier, the two buildings were connected by an iron bridge.
In 1959, as a result of the transformation of the salt pans from small lots processed by hand to large portions processed by using more technological harvesting methods, but also due to the decrease in demand for salt, the warehouses lost their former function and were slowly abandoned.
The Storehouse is an example of industrial archaeology dating back to the early 18th century, then revisited in the 1980s by architect De Carlo with a project to restore and transform the Storehouse into a naval museum linked to the nearby dock.
Renovated in 2021 and inaugurated in January 2022, today the new Darsena del Sale, on the strength of its history and located in the heart of Cervia on the canal port, aims to become a true epicentre of wellbeing and the Adriatic's leading destination for quality tourism.
It is considered an "agora" of culture and beauty, where the individual and his/her wellbeing are at the centre of the project 12 months a year.
Music, Events, Food & Wine and Spa are the elements that characterise this new "destination" entirely dedicated to wellness. A location developed over a total area of more than 20,000 square metres that includes an outdoor and an indoor area, divided into three floors, where water and salt become the real protagonists of the story and experience of Darsena del Sale.
Where: Cervia - Viale Oriani, 12
Accessibility
Accessible for disabled
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia