Galata Museo del Mare

Located on Genoa's old harbour, the Galata Museo del Mare holds the distinction of being the largest maritime museum anywhere in the Mediterranean — a scale that reflects Genoa's own history as one of the great maritime powers of the medieval and early modern world. The museum traces that history in detail, anchored by a full-size reconstructed Genoese galley occupying an entire hall, built to give visitors a genuine sense of the scale and working conditions aboard the vessels that once projected Genoese power across the sea.

A substantial section of the museum is devoted to Italian emigration, walking visitors physically through a recreated journey — from a period departure hall through the cramped conditions of steerage class — that traces the experience of the millions of Italians who left for the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Moored just outside the museum is the Nazario Sauro, a genuine decommissioned Italian navy submarine that visitors can walk through, offering an entirely different and considerably more claustrophobic historical experience.