National Maritime Museum (Galle)
Encyclopedia
The National Maritime Museum in Galle
, Sri Lanka
is located within the Galle fort
. On March 2010, it was reopened at the Dutch warehouse of the Galle fort as the National Maritime Archaeology Museum.
Exhibits of marine artifacts found in underwater explorations are show cased in the Museum. There are maps, naval craft, ropes, earthenware, beer mugs, smoking pipes, barrels, vast amount of articles including artillery guns and sailor shoes. Ship wrecks in the sea off the Southern coast is where these artifacts were recovered from, some of which are nearly 800 years old.
and flora
of the sea
. Artifacts consisted of underwater artifact
s and scaled-down model
s of whale
s and fish
.
Other exhibits included life-size diorama
s of the traditional methods of fishing and the "walk into the sea" diorama, showing the natural coral
beds, sea grass beds and deep sea fish
. One of the final exhibits of the museum was a display of the causes of sea pollution
, coast erosion
, and the methods used to combat these problems.
The Dutch warehouse building at the fort, built in 1717, was renovated and was planned to house the museum at the end of 2008.
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
is located within the Galle fort
Galle Fort
Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the south east coast of Sri Lanka, was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese, then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards...
. On March 2010, it was reopened at the Dutch warehouse of the Galle fort as the National Maritime Archaeology Museum.
Exhibits of marine artifacts found in underwater explorations are show cased in the Museum. There are maps, naval craft, ropes, earthenware, beer mugs, smoking pipes, barrels, vast amount of articles including artillery guns and sailor shoes. Ship wrecks in the sea off the Southern coast is where these artifacts were recovered from, some of which are nearly 800 years old.
The state of the museum Before the Tsunami
Before the Tsunami of December 2004, this museum specialized in the faunaFauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
and flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
of the sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
. Artifacts consisted of underwater artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s and scaled-down model
Model (physical)
A physical model is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object...
s of whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
.
Other exhibits included life-size diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s of the traditional methods of fishing and the "walk into the sea" diorama, showing the natural coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
beds, sea grass beds and deep sea fish
Deep sea fish
Deep sea fish is a term for any fish that lives below the photic zone of the ocean. The lanternfish is, by far, the most common deep sea fish. Other deep sea fish include the flashlight fish, cookiecutter shark, bristlemouths, anglerfish, and viperfish....
. One of the final exhibits of the museum was a display of the causes of sea pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, coast erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, and the methods used to combat these problems.
Tsunami Damage
The museum suffered flood damage from the 2004 Asian tsunami.The Dutch warehouse building at the fort, built in 1717, was renovated and was planned to house the museum at the end of 2008.