Puerto Vallarta's Naval Museum Reopens with Cutting Edge Exhibitions Team Angels/Angel Rodriguez Zepeda - Vallarta Opina
go to original February 25, 2016

In a lively and emotional celebration, the Naval Museum of Puerto Vallarta was reopened (formerly the Naval Historical Museum). The ceremony was led by Vice Admiral Juan Aguilera Gonzalez, Captain Joshua de la Vega Nolasco with guests of honor Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña; Soprano Filippa Giordano, Tourist Ambassador of Puerto Vallarta; Rafael Castellanos, Central State Prosecutor; and Santiago Noguera Reyes, Brigadier General and Commander of the 41 Military Zone.

The event began with Captain Joshua de la Vega Nolasco giving a brief overview of the history of the museum, which was opened earlier as the Naval Historical Museum on 18 November 2006; It is a colonial-style building where it was the Office of the Port Authority back in 1974, then a hospital and then home to the Naval Command and from 2001 was conditioned as a museum, the fourth of its kind in Mexico, two are in Mexico City and one in Veracruz that is very similar to that of Puerto Vallarta and it has just been reopened under its new name of Naval Museum (Museo Naval).

He then invited the presidium to cut the inaugural ribbon and to take a tour around the building where they were explained in detail about each of the exhibited objects, awakening nostalgia in all as they listened to stories and saw exactly what they had before their eyes.

In the various rooms, visitors can learn about important events in the history of Mexico particularly those linked to the sea and its ports, as happened on April 21, 1914 when a group of young sailors heroically defended Veracruz from the Naval Academy during a US intervention.

They can also see a replica of the ship "Cuauhtemoc" called "Knight of the Seas," one of the emblems of our Navy to navigate with a message of peace among the nations ships. If someone desires to use the ship navigation simulator, it will allow them to experience it.

There is a virtual theater where visitors can understand seafaring customs with mythological creatures placed in the charts that terrified mariners of yore.

The idea for the new opening of the museum is to present a cutting-edge, functional and attractive museum which also offers a more cultural option for both Vallarta and visitors and to know the daily work of the Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico with public resources to be integrated into a historical timeline.

The Museum shows the history of Mexico in relation to the sea from the conquest until modern times. There is a collection of pieces on display in sixteen permanent exhibition rooms where paintings are displayed, as well as models, maps, photographs, documents, scale models, navigational instruments, and uniforms. Also exhibited is a collection of weapons, guns, cannons and carabiner, of which one is of Mexican manufacturing.

The Naval Museum has undergone several changes and renovations besides the change of the name and among other issues discussed include expeditions and discoveries of the South Sea, expeditions to the Philippines, the trip to Nao China, galleons, the journey of the ships and defense fleets. Also stressed is the theme of the beginning of the settlement of Las Peñas that would later become Puerto Vallarta.  There is also a brief history of the colony of San Blas.

The new Naval Museum offers guided tours, workshops, exhibitions, and media room with projection of cultural documentaries. The new timetable schedule when the Museum will be open to the public is Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

After the opening ceremony and tour of the building, attendees were invited to attend a musical performance by the Symphony and Chorus Band of the Navy, who gave a concert in the Los Arcos outdoor theater,  with a number of classics and overtures that were warmly applauded.

The newly reopened Naval Museum (Museo Naval) is located in Downtown Puerto Vallarta at the south end of the Malecon beside the arches by the ocean.

Translated and edited by Team Angels