Museu Marítim de Barcelona
About the institution
The Maritime Museum of Barcelona is an institution that is devoted to maritime culture and it was established more than 80 years ago. Its mission is to conserve, study and disseminate the country's maritime heritage, one of the richest in the Mediterranean. It is located in the Drassanes Reials, or Royal Shipyard, on the city's waterfront, at the foot of Montjuïc.
In 1976 it was declared to be a Historical and Artistic Site on account of its historical importance for shipbuilding. The shipyard is administered by the Drassanes Reials Consortium and the Maritime Museum of Barcelona comprising Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Provincial Council, and the Port of Barcelona Authority. In 2006 the Maritime Museum of Barcelona was declared to be a Museum of National Interest.
The museum's photographic collections are the result of a systematic collection of images associated with maritime history. At the present time the collection contains more than 230,000 photographs dating from the end of the 19th century to the present day and covers many subjects such as shipping lines, like the Cia Trasatlántica Española and Trasmediterranea, the port of Barcelona, fishing, seafaring trades, towns on the coast, nautical sports, famous persons, ships of the fleet, the shipyard building itself and a collection documenting the history of the institution. The collections are mainly the result of private donations from individuals, companies linked to the naval industries, and nautical publishing companies and so forth. The archive includes works of a seafaring nature by outstanding photographers such as Joaquim Pla Janini, Pau Audouard, Antoni Esplugas and Napoleón in a variety of media including daguerreotypes, albumins, ferrotypes, stereoscopic plates, slides and digital photography.
Consult the Blog FOTOdeMAR for more information about the museum’s activities
