The Maritime Museum’s collections are extremely rich and varied. They include pieces ranging from a ship that still sails to a postal stamp, or from a steam engine to a 14th-century manuscript. Of course, they also include everything you expect to find in a maritime museum: binnacles, anchors, model ships, navigational tools, etc. In other words, all sorts of documents and objects from the miniscule to the huge, from all different periods and made of all sorts of materials. For decades, the Museum has gathered examples of the maritime past, a heritage that reminds us of the lives of seafarers, the histories of ships and maritime activities in peacetime or war.
We would like to offer a selection of objects and documents that are notable for their historical interest, their rarity or their aesthetic value. These can give you a general idea of the content of the Museum’s collection. However, do not forget that there is a great deal beyond this selection, with thousands of artefacts and documents that you can discover using our search engine or other resources.
We encourage you to take a stroll through some of the key pieces in our Museum’s collection, grouped into twelve categories to help you keep your bearings.
Brass universal solar quadrant
Navigational instrumentsOctagonal universal solar quadrant made in the 18th century. It also serves as a compass and sundial. It has a collapsible piece with latitude marks, and a circular dial with a collapsible style. The engraved floral decoration and roman numerals are especially notable. It has a compass in the middle, and below that are inscriptions with the latitudes of cities in Spain like Cadiz, Seville, Cartagena, Valencia, Madrid or Barcelona. Quadrants were not exclusively maritime instruments, but were useful to any travellers at the time.
