Genoese destroy Pisan fleet at Meloria

1284

In a single day's battle off the Tuscan coast, Genoa's galleys shattered the naval power of Pisa. Thousands of Pisan sailors spent years in Genoese dungeons. Pisa's long decline into a secondary port began on the sandbanks off Meloria. Among the prisoners was Rustichello of Pisa, who would later share a cell with Marco Polo in Genoa and write down his famous travels.