At the end of the street on August 25 that leads from downtown to the Venetian fortress of Koules in the old harbour of the city, are the Arsenal, the Venetian (military shipyards).

The harbour of Heraklion has always been an important part of the city and the Cretan civilization as a whole. In Venetian times Heraklion port was an important commercial centre for trade. Since the Venetian fleet was based exclusively in the Mediterranean, the Venetians built the shipyard in all of its ports, thereby ensuring full maintenance of their ships and the ability to quickly and safely sail from port to port. Here was held the construction of new warships and merchant ships. Were in the construction and special areas for the storage of weapons and ammunition.

The construction of the Venetian shipyards in Heraklion was a major project, which was conducted in four phases and lasted from the 15th to 17th century. All were built 19 yards, grouped in three sets. They are interconnected through arched openings closed by doors. Till our days there were only 5 or 6 yards and then only partially. We can only see a large dilapidated oblong structures with arched roofs, which are only a part of the grandiose structure and held in the Venetian period the greater part of the old port. Unfortunately, a significant part of the Venetian Arsenal was destroyed in the 1930-ies in connection with the construction of a new harbour and the coastal road. Directly on top of the old walls built new homes.

Between the shipyards was a salt warehouse. Next to the last yard was a large water reservoir (capacity of 20,000 barrels).