Manager: Marijana Dlačić
Opening hours for visitors: Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (closed on holidays)
Address: Obala kneza Trpimira 8, Zadar
Tel: +385 (0)23/335-708
E-mail: mdlacic@hazu.hr
Within the Institute of Historical Sciences HAZU in Zadar is the Maritime Collection, which was created in 1958 through the efforts of the then director of the JAZU Institute in Zadar, Vjekoslav Maštrović, who was also its first manager. On the 100th anniversary of the Academy, in 1966 it was opened to the public as a Maritime Museum, although it was never officially established as an independent institution. At the end of December 1972, the most valuable part of the collection was entered in the Register of Movable Cultural Monuments of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Split, and the objects are characterized as cultural monuments and belong to the 1st category of monuments. Over the years, the collection has been supplemented with new museum items and now has around 400 items divided into the following units: anchors; ship parts and decorations; weapon; pictures, graphics and drawings (iconography); instruments for navigation; ship equipment; ship models; shipwreck of the tanker Petar Zoranić; geographical maps and globes; maritime memories; fishing items; archive; library. Among the valuable examples of the collection, it is worth mentioning: ladva/monoxylon, Roman anchors (1st – 3rd centuries), old Croatian anchor from the 10th century, ship’s cannon from the 16th century, graphics from the 17th century, terrestrial and astronomical globes from the 18th and 19th centuries, various artistic paintings from the 18th to the 20th centuries, models of sailing ships, steamship and motor ships, maritime documents and more. Most of the exhibits are from the Zadar area and northern Dalmatia.
A significant part of the collection is exhibited in a permanent exhibition located on the ground floor of the Institute’s building and in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the collection. It is open to the public and can be visited individually or by appointment in groups. So far, it has been viewed by thousands of visitors from Croatia and abroad.