Hellenic Maritime Museum, Piraeus, Greece

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created 20/09/24

The Hellenic Maritime Museum, Piraeus, Greece

The museum is located on the Eastern side of Piraeus, near the antique naval base of Zeas.
It covers the Greek maritime and naval history from antiquity to almost the present days. One has to, however, keep in mind that from its integration into the Roman Empire in 146 BC to independence in 1821 AD, Greece has been dominated by various powers, from the Byzantine Empire, through Venice to the Ottoman Empire. In consequence for almost a thousand years it has not been an independent sea power. This is very visibly reflected by the time periods covered in the museum, where there is an almost complete gap between the Hellenistic period and the early 19th century.
The building is a semi-circular structure with a concourse on top, that traces in part the old city wall of Piraeus. A series of thematic halls follow each other, the hall to the right of the entrance is devoted to the Hellenistic period, while to the left a hall on the early modern time, is followed by the sailing navy of the earlier 19th century, then the later 19th century and early 20th century steam navy, the 20th century navy and merchant shipping, concluding with a room on traditional ship and boat building.
Below I am showing a selection of models and other artifacts that are not meant to be representative, but reflect my personal interests.