Dogana d'acqua

The Dogana d’acqua was Livorno’s water customs house, built in the 1830s under Grand Duke Leopoldo II as part of the expansion of the free-port area. Designed by Carlo Reishammer, it stood between Forte San Pietro and Porta San Marco along the Mura Leopoldine.

Why it matters

The customs house joined the city’s land and water defenses to the commercial life of its free port. Its two basins, one rectangular and one semicircular, accommodated boats arriving for inspection.

What to notice

The surviving structure is displayed within a contemporary enclosure of silkscreened glass. The reconstruction evokes the lost building while leaving visible the remains of its historic fabric; a three-arched bridge also survives.

Context and history

The building was damaged during the Second World War and later incorporated into a warehouse. A redevelopment project began in 2009, and reconstruction of the monument’s remains within the glass enclosure began in 2013.