The Museau Maritim is outstanding both for what it displays, and its manner of doing so. Its range of nautical treasure includes: model ships, instruments, maps, charts, drawings, replicas, paintings and figureheads. The virtual reality exhibition Sea Adventure lets visitors imagine life as a galley slave on the Don Juan of Austria, stride the stormy decks of a Cuban-bound corvette and experience crewing the first submarine in history.

Appropriately the museum is contained in The Drassanes Reals. This former royal shipyards built between 1283 and 1328, is the biggest and most complete medieval dockyards in the world and a superb example of Gothic architecture. Its majestic arches, columns, and massive vaults are an example of medieval civic architecture.

This complex then sitting on the water's edge used to dry-dock, build, and repair ships for the Catalan-Aragonese rulers. They turned out 30 war galleys at a time to prepare for the final assault against the Ottoman Empire which occurred in 1571 at Lepanto off the Greek coast and ended in victory. Now only the rush hour traffic laps the museums walls.

Inside the museum, headphones and a Walkman allow you to wander around while being fully briefed on the displays. Exhibits chart the traditional fishing techniques, and sailing as sport through neat little caravels and draggers, snipes, and sloops. They also cover the art of wooden shipbuilding, charting the oceans, and the steam age of ships. Especially fine are the late 19th-century mastheads, navigational instruments and models of the Compañía Trasmediterránea's fleet collection - this local company still runs the Barcelona to Balearic Islands route.

The collection also boasts a model of Ictíneo, one of the world's first submarines designed by the Catalan visionary Narcís Monturiol. There's a superb model of Magellan's Santa María de la Victoria, on which made the first circumnavigation of the world (1519-1522) - though not by Magellan himself, as the natives of the Philippines took a fancy to his head.

In 1568 the flagship of the Santa Liga in the battle of Lepanto launched from here.
A full-size replica of Juan de Austria's Lepanto great golden galley the ‘Reial’ now forms the centrepiece of the museum. Fittingly it was built in the museum. So central to the museum is it that you have to stroll round it to complete the tour, and to be able to go on-board.

Its banks of oars made it agile and gave it the power to drive a ram through enemy ships by steering straight into their side. Giving a suitable wind, sail power could take over for normal sailing. On deck you get a brief 3D virtual reality show of the crew - chained four-by-four to their benches for months on end. You could smell a galley two miles away if downwind – made it difficult to creep up on an enemy at anchor, in fog or at night!

Sheer attention to detail and outstanding craftsmanship is what really makes this museum as it is with the Museu d' Historia.

Placed near the southern end of La Rambla, the huge, gothic structure of Royal Shipyards house Museu Maritim. The buildings are worth a look in themselves, dating back to the 14th century and being once among the greatest in Europe. Many a galleon left those walls to be packed full with conquistadores and eventually exchange its cargo for gold and silver of the newfound americas.

Lifesize replicas and real examples of ships, boats and sea wessels of all ages fill the halls. Walk-in dioramas present you with examples of life aboard the ships, sailing adventures and, not least, the underwater trips of Narcis Monturiol, one of the first successful submariners of our times.

All in all the museum is well worth the time spent there - and should you tire of the relentless onslaught of the historical facts, La Rambla is just nearby, ready to take away your sore feet in a jug of sangria.

The objects on view in the museum are extremely interesting, and the galleon is excellent. As a replica of a 16th century royal galleon, it doesn't match Stockholm's Vaasa, but is neverthless enjoyable. To me, what really makes the museum is the building itself, which is unique. There may have been similar ones elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but this is the only one to have survived in its 13th and mainly 14th century form. Oddly enough 18th century additions have not survived!

It was originally the Drassanes Reials [Royal ship-building yards] which made ships for the joint kingdom of Aragon and Catalunya. It consists of a succession of Gothic naves with a gable roof supported by stone pillars. By the second half of the 17th century it was largely used to accommodate troops, and in the 18th century it became an artillery depot. It was finally given to the city by the military in 1935 and has been the Museu Maritim since 1977.

As well as the galleon, there are fine collections of navigational instruments here, and figureheads, nautical maps and pictures.

I know that many tourits are attracted by the art and the ecclesiastical buildings of the city, but this museum should NOT be forgotten when you plan your itinerary.

This museum is within the old shipyard where ships have been built since the medeival times. I used the audiotour and was pretty impressed. I enjoyed the sections of the old galleys and the maps before and during the explorations of the new world. Once you crossed into the steamship error the museum did get a little dry but that may have been because it wasn't of any interest to me.

Barcelona has a love affair with seafood and the sea, therefore this fascinating museum takes on added significance. The Drassanes are amazingly well-preserved medieval shipyards dating back to the 13th century. Once used to build and repair the ships of Catalunya’s war fleet, these shipyards were used right up to the 18th century. You’ll also find ancient seafaring maps and charts.