Museu Marítim Barcelona, Spain

This maritime museum describes the history of the Catalan fleet through exhibitions of old sailing ships, paintings, figureheads, navigational instruments, maps and charts. There are two permanent exhibitions and educational activities for children, who can physically board both Don Juan de Austria's royal galleon and Narcís Monturiol's primitive submarine. The museum is housed in the Reials Drassanes, a typical 13th-century Catalan Gothic construction built on the orders of King Pere el Gran as a boat repair yard at a time when the Catalan fleet controlled many of the Mediterranean's important trade routes.