Galata Museo del Mare

The Galata - Museo del mare is a maritime museum in the Italian city of Genoa. It is the largest museum of its kind in the Mediterranean area and also one of the most modern in Italy. The museum is located on the grounds of the Porto Antico, in the Palazzo Galata in the Darsena district, where galleys were built in the Republic of Genoa era. It is close to downtown Genoa, the Port of Genoa, and within walking distance of Genova Principe train station and Darsena metro stop. It opened in 2004 as part of Genoa's 2004 European Capital of Culture celebration.

History

Galata is a historic district of Istanbul, Turkey, and until the 15th century, home to one of the most important Genoese communities in the Mediterranean. Therefore, in the late 19th century, when the Municipality of Genoa built a district of commercial docks, the oldest of these was given the name of the ancient colony. In the 19th century, this district served as a busy shipyard. In its lower part, the galleys of the Republic of Genoa were built, and it was part of the "Arsenale", the most important military and maritime complex in the city. In the 20th century, Galata lost its commercial function and was abandoned. In the late 1990s, the municipality decided to establish the seat of the future maritime museum of Genoa in the Galata district.

Opened in 2004, the museum is located in the Palazzo Galata, whose renovation was designed by the Spanish architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra. In addition to a natural-scale reproduction of a Genoese galley, the museum houses several interactive rooms which help visitors understand what it meant to go to sea in different eras. One of these is the "La Merica" exhibition, open since 2011, dedicated to the history of Italian migration. It shows both the lot of exploited immigrants in Genoa in the 19th century and that of Italian emigrants who traveled to the United States, Argentina, and Brazil on overcrowded ships, and founded an Italian diaspora in the New World. Special emphasis is placed on current immigration trends as well as the European migrant crisis.

In 2005, the Galata museum merged with the Commenda Museum-Theater and the Naval Museum of Pegli, together forming the Mu.MA - Istituzione Musei del Mare e delle Migrazioni (Institute of Museums of the Sea and Migration) to better combine the topics of the sea and migration.

Address: Calata Ansaldo De Mari, 1, 16126 Genova GE, Italy
Hours: Closed ⋅ Opens 11AM
Founded: 2004
Phone: +39 010 234 5655
Architect: Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra