This museum features many exhibits that show how maritime affairs developed in Spain. Here you will see both an ordinary fishing boat and a model of a modern cruise liner. But the museum's main pride is its models of historic boats.
In one of the halls, you can find a copy of the royal sailing galley that took part in a naval battle with the Turkish fleet in 1571. This is not just a ship, but a true masterpiece of shipbuilding! In addition to the technical characteristics that were impressive for its time, it has original patterned decoration adorning the bow of the galley.
A separate part of the exhibition is devoted to the figures that were placed on the bow of the ship, because each of them had its own special meaning.
The museum also lets you see what sailors' everyday life was like – there is a captain's cabin, sleeping quarters for sailors, all kinds of instruments and devices, as well as antique maps of countries from all over the world. The oldest documents of the Maritime Museum of Barcelona date back to the XV century!
At the exit from the building stands an old bathyscaphe – a kind of prototype of a submarine. Such vessels were built here in the middle of the XIX century.
And after your tour of the museum, be sure to visit Columbus – or rather, his majestic statue, erected not far from here in Portal de la Pau square.
