Naval Museum of Madrid facts for kids
| Spanish: Museo Naval | |
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| Established | 1843 |
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| Location | Paseo del Prado 5, Madrid, Spain |
| Type | Naval museum |
The Naval Museum (Spanish: Museo Naval) is a super cool place in Madrid, Spain. It's a naval museum that tells the amazing story of the Spanish Navy. You can learn all about Spain's sea history, from the 1400s until today!
This museum is one of Spain's National Museums. It works closely with the country's Ministry of Defence. Inside, you'll find lots of interesting things. The exhibits show how naval history fits into the bigger picture of the Spanish Empire. You can see old navigation tools, weapons, maps, and even beautiful paintings.
Discover the Museum's Home
The idea for the Naval Museum started way back in 1792. But it didn't actually open until 1843. When it first opened, it was in a different building called the Palacio de los Consejos.
After that, it moved a couple more times. It was in the Casa del Platero and then the Palacio de los Ministerios. It stayed there for a long time, until 1932.
In the 1920s, the Ministry of the Navy got a brand new main building. The museum moved into this new, grand home in 1932. The architects who designed this building were José Espelius and Francisco Javier de Luque.
When you visit, you walk through a modern entrance on the Paseo del Prado. Then you go up to the first floor. What used to be open courtyards are now awesome exhibition halls! These halls have amazing stained-glass roofs. They show pictures of ships and other cool designs. These beautiful glass roofs were made by the Maumejean family.
On weekends, a special door opens to the grand staircase of the Navy Headquarters. This lets visitors see the beautiful architecture of the whole building.
Explore Amazing Collections
The Naval Museum has some truly special items. One of the most famous is the map of Juan de la Cosa. This map is super important because it's the oldest map of the Americas that we still have today! You can see it on display all the time.
Since 2007, the museum has also had a piece of Moon rock! This tiny rock, weighing just one gram, was collected during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. It was one of two Moon samples given to Spain. The museum put it on display in 2009 to celebrate 40 years since humans first landed on the Moon.
Another cool collection comes from a shipwreck. The museum displays beautiful Ming ceramics that were found from the sunken ship San Diego. It's like a treasure chest from the past!
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Map of Juan de la Cosa made in 1500 in El Puerto de Santa María
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An astrolabe mater (around 1570)
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Ming ceramics from the San Diego shipwreck
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1688 globe by Vincenzo Coronelli
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Sala "Almirante Jose Ignacio Gonzalez-Aller"
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See also
In Spanish: Museo Naval (Madrid) para niños
