Located in the Navy Headquarters on the Art Walk, this museum, run by the Spanish Ministry of Defence, aims to acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit all kinds of pieces and collections with historic, artistic, scientific and technical value related to Spain’s naval history from the Middle Ages to the present day for the purpose of education and exhibition.

Its origins date back to 1792, thanks to an initiative by the Navy Secretary of King Carlos IV, Antonio de Valdés and Fernández Bazán, in which it was intended to create a marine museum that brought together all of the necessary sciences to instruct the Navy, which came about in 1842. Having been in several venues, the museum opened in 1932 in its current location, which was also home to the Marine Ministry on the first floor of the building. In 1976, an adjacent building was constructed for the extension of the Navy Headquarters, increasing the exhibition space to double that of the original museum space. In 1992, the centre’s penultimate refurbishment was carried out and after being closed for two years, the final refurbishment took place in 2020, providing the museum with modern facilities in which accessibility and the layout of the exhibition spaces have been improved.

The museum’s collection, which is displayed chronologically in the galleries, includes more than 12,000 pieces characterised by their wealth and heterogeneity. The collections of model vessel s and maps stand out as one of the best in the world, as well as the astronomical, scientific and navigation instruments, plastic and decorative arts, weapons and flags, uniforms and medals, seafarers’ supplies, pieces of ethnography and personal belongings of illustrious sailors. It is worth mentioning that these objects include the parchment map beautifully illustrated by Juan de la Cosa, the first ever map on the American continent.  The seafarer and cartographer made it in 1500 after having travelled to America on three occasions, accompanied by Christopher Columbus.

The collections on display have been donated by diverse institutions and bodies, such as the Royal Household, the former Marine Secretariat, the extinct Midshipmen Companies, the Peninsula’s Navy Departments and the colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, the Water System, the Royal Navy Observatory of San Fernando and the Hydrographic Institute of Cadiz, as well as subsequent acquisitions and private donations from individuals or different entities.