More than half a century of existence give much. A center with a tradition that has grown in attractiveness while it fattens its inventory and renews its facilities. It is flooded by sea drop by drop, but also by museum experience, both in its informative and conservationist aspect.
The ethnography, culture, the sea as a factor of human anthropology is reflected in fishing and all the devices and utensils that can be imagined. A great sample book that shows us all kinds of fishing gear and gear used by the Cantabrian sailors. Some of the pieces are of great antiquity, such as the needles for making and sewing nets, the hooks, or the pins for braiding ropes and rigging. Also included here is a special section dedicated to whale hunting, activity deeply rooted in the area until the s. XVII. Logically, there is also no shortage of models at the scale of fishing boats more characteristics of Northern Spain, at least those corresponding to the last hundred years: the trawler, the lanchona or larger boat, the first steamers, the hake ...; and a wide exhibition of riverside carpentry or traditional boat building. Everything is perfectly documented, with images that illustrate the process from laying a keel to launching, passing through the essential ax, tile, and irons for caulking or caulking.
Marine biology it also shines with its own light in this endless museum. Exhibited in this section samples of flora and fauna of the rich Asturian coast, either dissected species, in a fossil state, or alive. In any case, if you don't have enough with the Cantabrian Sea, you can also recreate yourself with a collection of exotic pieces from different parts of the worldsuch as Pacific corals, shark teeth, or African turtle shells. You will undoubtedly be surprised by the whale bones, which in this case are exotic but not because they come from afar, but because they are the last witnesses to the area's whaling past. They were collected on the same beach as La Ribera, in Luanco, and some have spectacular dimensions.
Another outstanding section, as without a doubt are all of the museum, is the one that shows us clearly, and with a large amount of resources, the evolution of navigation and naval architecture from ancient times to the present day. In total we can recreate ourselves with more than 50 scale reproductions, patiently worked by another typology of lovers of the sea and detail: the artisans. Phoenician, Roman and Viking ships; the caravels of Columbus, the galleys and galleons of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, or the marvelous ships of the line, pride of the European monarchies of the s. XVIII. We also see the later schooners, brigantines and corvettes, or the fast clippers, which competed with the steamers. We continue to navigate through time, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries we came across steam battleships, freighters, warships, and current tankers and rescue ships. The appeal of This collection of models is completed with a unique collection of warehouses in ceramic, ivory, glass, and with a curious assortment of toy boats belonging to the childhood of a good number of generations.
The living map of the museum also has printed territories that have contributed to date the sea and its travelers with the passage of time: an amazing collection of Nautical charts of all seas and epochs, cartographies, engravings, documents (logbooks, bills of lading, insurance policies ...), navigation instruments (compass, sextant, marine chronometer, log ...), photographs and many other objects.
We, privileged visitors of this great ship, sailors in short, we cross the sea to windward and leeward without restrictions, stopping at all the coordinates and feeling the true weight of the sea, that of its history and that of its almost infinite nature. Curiously, we do not step out of solid ground.
Asturias Maritime Museum hours
WINTER SCHEDULE (September to June)
From Tuesday to Saturday: from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 17:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.
Sundays and holidays: from 11: 00 to 14: 0 h.
Monday: closed (except groups by appointment).
SUMMER SCHEDULE (July and August)
Every day including Sundays and holidays: from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 17:30 p.m. to 20:30 p.m.
School groups:
From Monday to Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 16:00 p.m. to 20:00 p.m.
Asturias Maritime Museum Rates
· Adults and individual: € 3,50.
· Retirees, unemployed, over 65 years, cards, students: € 2,00.
· Youth, from 13 to 16 years old: € 1,50.
· Children up to 12 years accompanied free.
· Members of the Association of Friends of the Maritime Museum and ICOM Associates exempt from payment.
· Teachers from the Principality of Asturias, guides and companions of groups exempt from payment.
· Tuesday free admission.
Source: Maritime Museum of Asturias.
Information:
Address:
Gijón Street, No. 6. 33440, Luanco (Gozón)
Contact number: 985 88 01 01
Learn more: Maritime Museum of Asturias
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
