The Nemi Ships were elaborate floating palaces built by Caligula
The Nemi Ships were large Roman vessels, essentially floating palaces built in the 1st century at Lake Nemi by the Roman Emperor.
From the size of the ships, it was long held that they were pleasure barges, though, as the lake was sacred, no ship could sail on it under Roman law (Pliny the Younger, Litterae VIII-20) implying a religious exemption.
In 1895, with the support of the Ministry of Education, Eliseo Borghi began a systematic study of the wreck site and discovered the site contained two wrecks instead of the one expected, these were named Prima nave & Seconda nave.
In 1927, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the engineer Guido Ucelli to drain the lake and recover the ships with the help of his armed forces and regime contacts.
Prima nave
The first ship recovered was 70 meters (230 ft) long with a beam (width) of 20 meters (66 ft). The hull was divided into three “active” or main sections. The general shape of the hull appears wider at the stern and narrower at the bow. The superstructures appear to have been made of two main blocks of two buildings each, connected by stairs and corridors, built on raised parts of the deck at either end.
Seconda nave
The superstructure appears to have been made with the main section amidships, a heavy building at the stern and a smaller one at the prow. Seconda Nave contained elaborate quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating and plumbing.