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.
Printed nautical chart of the South Atlantic
CartographyNautical chart with an approximate scale of 1:11,112,000, printed in 1837. It includes the South Atlantic, showing from the Equator to 58° 35′ latitude north, and between the longitude 93° 45′ W and 17° E of the Cadiz meridian. The chart, printed by the Dirección de Hidrografía, is a navigational chart that has been used on ships and that includes annotations showing things like routes. In addition, it contains a legend that reads: “Presented to H.M. the Governing Queen by the Most Excellent Secretary of State and of the Maritime, Commerce and Overseas Office Mr Francisco Xavier Ulloa; J. Espejo delineated it; C. Noguera engraved it; M. Giraldos engraved the lettering.”
