National Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology

Cartagena, Spain

The National Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology (Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática - ARQVA) in Cartagena is an underwater archaeology museum. It owns a large collection of pieces recovered from shipwrecks that begins in the Phoenician period, and arrives until the 19th century.

On December 2, 2012, the 14.5 tons cargo of gold and silver coins recovered from the wreck of the frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was deposited in the museum for cataloging, study and permanent display.

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Details

Founded: 1980
Category: Museums in Spain

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Airaiba Sarria (8 months ago)
You can visit if you are in Cartagena , on Sundays is FREE, it won’t take you more than 30’ to see it . There is no wait, you enter directly and is in the port area
Peter Agoston - Petros The Musician (9 months ago)
Detailed exhibition, interactive multimedia tables, maps... and lot of fun + interesting informations about underwater archaeology...
Mark (11 months ago)
Nice museum of underwater findings and history. Well laid out with plenty of space and just €3 to enter its definitely worth a visit. The boards and displays are in Spanish and English until you get to the video projection telling the story of a English Vs Spanish naval altercation where the English won, after that the boards are in Spanish only!! It's near the end of the tour so I don't think you miss much if you can't read Spanish and it did make us laugh! When we visited (Oct 22) there was also a temporary exhibition in the separate building, these displays were all in Spanish only which was a little disappointing given its a tourist attraction but on the whole its definitely worthwhile visiting and there is a cafe for a drink afterwards.
jaqui silcox (17 months ago)
Incredible amount of information. Exhibitions are detailed and beautifully done..lots of interactive things. Free entry. Well worth a visit if you enjoy history .
Marcus Hurley (18 months ago)
This is a large museum, on the port next to the marina aptly enough. We parked in the underground car park on the same street and it was a few minutes walk to the museum. Entrance was possibly €6 each but I can't quite remember. The museum is modern and well laid out, starting with an explanation of what marine archeology actually is, what it covers and what it tries to achieve. It also showed how the tools and resources have changed as technology moves on but also the dangers as the treasure hunters become equally sophisticated. The later section is a chronological display of items recovered and an explanation of how maritime trade worked and what the trade routes were. This started with a Phonecian vessel and continued to the nineteenth century. There is also a good little shop and I think there's a cafe on the upper floor but we didn't go there. We spent over an hour inside and it was a fascinating visit.
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