Maritime Museum

MARITIME MUSEUM

The Maritime Museum creation started back in 1929, with the formation of Junta de Patronat de l’Institut Nàutic de la Mediterrània (Board of Management of the Mediterranean Nautical Institute), that in 1931 pressed for the establishment of a naval museum and its specialised library. At about that same time, Barcelona recovered the royal shipyards from the military, that abbandoned  them on a permanent basis in 1935. Despite the two occurrences being unrelated, the idea of setting up a maritime museum in a renovated Gothic building had already been raised.

The Maritime Museum is situated in the old harbour, the Port Vell. Its collections are illustrative of the Catalan seafaring culture and offer a more clear insight into the nature and the circumstances that have given rise to the country’s maritime history. The collections have grown in time as a result of the acquisitions made by the museum and thanks to the generosity of the many organisations and people who have made donations to the institution. One of its most remarkable pieces is a replica of the royal galley of Joan de Austria. Other collections, like the Navigaion Instrument collection, the Model Ship collection or the Ex-Voto collection are part of the unique offer of this museum worth visiting.