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For nearly 400 years, from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, and Cape Horn to Cape Hope, Spanish ships ruled the waves. Their mastery of the seas ushered in the Age of Discovery, and enabled this European nation to build an empire that stretched around the globe.
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In Madrid, the modern-day capital, the Naval Museum documents the long and storied history of the Spanish navy, from the medieval era to the present day, through a collection of instruments, weapons, maps, and models.
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The museum was founded in 1792 by royal decree, but first opened in 1843 in the Palacio de los Consejos. Its current home is the former Naval Ministry building, on the Paseo del Prado, where this enormous exhibition hall was originally an open courtyard.
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Under the glittering glass roof, carefully crafted scale models of ships are on display alongside charts and flags. The richly-decorated red damask silk banner to the right is that of Francisco Gutiérrez de los Ríos, Count of Fernán Núñez (1644-1721).
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The 24 rooms of the museum are arranged chronologically, running from the voyages of Christopher Colombus and the discovery and colonisation of the Americas, through the Spanish Succession, and to the fall of the empire and rise as a member of the European Union.
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In the days before electronic navigation, charts, globes, telescopes, and sextants were the order of the day. The museum holds a vast collection of these instruments, alongside exhibits detailing famous and influential explorers and cartographers.
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Portraits and uniforms of some of the Spanish Navy's most illustrious commanders line the walls. The museum even carries treasured personal belongings, such as a pair of pistols, given by Napoleon Bonaparte to Capitan José de Rojas of the Spanish Royal Navy.
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Some 600 ship models are held by the museum. These were made for all sorts of reasons, some were scale models for ships architects, while others were used as instructional aids for officers. Some models were even made out of scrap by prisoners of the Spanish navy.
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And many modern ships and boats are represented in model form. Since the second world war, Spain has modernised its naval fleet. It's now focussed on peacekeeping and anti-terror operations in the Mediterranean and around the world.
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Thanks for joining this tour of the Naval Museum of Madrid, there's plenty more to see, such as these historic painted figureheads, that once graced the prows of warships.
