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| Museu Náutico da Bahia | |
|---|---|
| Name | Museu Náutico da Bahia |
| Native name lang | pt |
| Established | 1990s |
| Location | Salvador, Bahia, Brazil |
| Type | Maritime museum |
Museu Náutico da Bahia is a maritime museum located in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of nautical heritage, maritime trade, naval history, and coastal cultures of the Bay of All Saints. The institution engages with themes spanning colonial navigation, transatlantic routes, shipbuilding, and maritime archeology, connecting local histories with broader Atlantic networks involving European empires, African diasporic communities, and Indigenous peoples. The museum collaborates with regional and international institutions to document and exhibit artifacts related to exploration, commerce, and naval warfare.
The museum emerged from initiatives linking the port authorities of Salvador, Bahia, the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, and university departments such as the Universidade Federal da Bahia and the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana to preserve maritime artifacts recovered from the Baía de Todos-os-Santos and coastal shipwrecks. Early collections were donated by the Capitania dos Portos and the Museu de Arte Sacra de Salvador, while research partnerships included the Instituto Oceanográfico, the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia, and the Museu Nacional. Conservation projects engaged experts from the Universidade de São Paulo, the Museu Paulista, and the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Subaquática. The museum’s development was influenced by heritage debates involving the República Federativa do Brasil, municipal authorities of Salvador, and international bodies like ICOM and UNESCO. Exhibitions have marked anniversaries of events such as the Discovery of Brazil commemorations, and have referenced regional histories including the Guerra dos Emboabas and the Afro-Brazilian resistances associated with figures like Zumbi dos Palmares.
The collections encompass rigging, hull fragments, navigational instruments, ship manifests, and iconographic materials linked to voyages by explorers like Pedro Álvares Cabral, Américo Vespúcio, and merchants from the Casa da Índia. Artifacts include anchors, ballast stones, astrolabes, sextants, chronometers, logbooks, and maps by cartographers such as Pedro Reinel and António de Lisboa. Ethnographic items reflect maritime craft traditions tied to communities like the Quilombo dos Palmares descendants, coastal fishing associations, and artisanal shipwrights documented alongside institutions like the Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Rural and the Confederação Nacional da Indústria. The archive contains shipping registries, insurance records from firms modeled on Companhia de Comércio, and correspondence referencing the Transatlantic slave trade and commodities such as sugar from the Recôncavo Baiano and tobacco from Ilha de Itaparica. The collection also features models of European warships of the Armada Espanhola, vessels related to the Dutch–Portuguese War, and coastal patrol craft associated with the Marinha do Brasil and historical episodes like the Inconfidência Mineira maritime connections.
Housed in a historic waterfront complex near the Porto de Salvador, the museum occupies structures influenced by Portuguese colonial architecture, stretching from 17th-century warehouses to 19th-century customs houses similar to those in Pelourinho and Forte de São Marcelo. Architectural elements display masonry techniques found in buildings like the Forte de Santo Antônio da Barra and the Igreja de São Francisco (Salvador), with restoration campaigns guided by preservation standards from the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional and technical input from the Escola de Belas Artes da UFBA. Landscape interventions reference the Baía de Todos-os-Santos shoreline and integrate interpretive docks modeled after restoration projects at Port of Lisbon and conservation precedents from the Museu de Marinha (Lisbon).
Permanent and temporary exhibitions address themes such as colonial navigation, maritime commerce, ship construction, and coastal livelihoods, often curated in partnership with the Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia, the Secretaria da Cultura do Estado da Bahia, and the Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (USP). Programs target schools from networks like the Secretaria Municipal de Educação de Salvador and universities including the Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia, offering workshops on sailmaking, traditional boatbuilding, and maritime iconography inspired by collections at the Museu Paulista and pedagogical models from the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. Public events coincide with nautical festivals such as the Festa de Iemanjá and regional commemorations involving the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, maritime NGOs, and community groups including local fisherfolk cooperatives allied with the Instituto de Sustentabilidade Azul.
The museum supports maritime archaeology, conservation science, and archival research through collaborations with the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, the Museu Histórico Nacional, and international research centers like the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology. Conservation labs apply techniques from the Serviço Nacional de Conservação and electronic documentation methods promoted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, employing specialists trained at the Universidade de Coimbra and the Universidade de Lisboa. Research projects have investigated shipwrecks linked to the Armada Espanhola, slave trade routes documented in archives of the Arquivo Nacional, and coastal adaptation studies drawing on data from the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis and the Centro de Pesquisas Climáticas.
The museum is located in Salvador, Bahia near maritime landmarks such as the Forte de Santo Antônio da Barra and access is facilitated by public transit servicing neighborhoods like Pelourinho and Cidade Baixa. Visiting hours, guided tours, educational outreach, and accessibility services are coordinated with municipal bodies including the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura and tourism organizations such as the Empresa de Turismo da Bahia. The site participates in cultural routes promoted by the Ministério do Turismo and appears in listings alongside the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia and Fundação Casa de Jorge Amado.