9 Fascinating Underwater Museums You Can’t Miss

Visiting a museum is always a fascinating experience. In these spaces, we can learn about history, culture, art and even about topics like football and the Portuguese language.

But one of the greatest curiosities about museums is that there are some in the depths of the waters, in seas and rivers. Some created in a planned way, others due to the sinking of entire cities, they keep many stories or works of art that make us reflect.

In this post, the awesome.club presents some of these museums.

As the name implies, this is a collection of underwater sculptures created by the artist Jason deCaires Taylor, with the aim of providing the local population with a closer connection with their beautiful underwater landscape. Jason was inspired by the Bahamas community itself to make his works, creating human shapes with concrete and installing them at the bottom of the ocean. Some interpret the sculptures as a tribute to slaves that were thrown overboard during voyages from Africa to America.

The Molinere consists of a space for 800 square meterswhere you can find more than 65 sculptures of individuals, but also a group of children made of concrete and holding hands, forming a circle, to face the ocean currents. Access is allowed from the port of St. Georges or Grand Anse Bay.

This place is probably the setting for one of the most exciting underwater archeology adventures. This is not yet considered an official underwater museum, but imagine being able to dive in and find Heracleion, the city founded by Alexander the Great, which contained wonderful buildings and was the setting for the novels of the beautiful Cleopatra. It is no coincidence that the city was one of the greatest metropolises of the time, rivaling Alexandria in terms of economic importance as a port on the Mediterranean.🇧🇷

Those who manage to experience this great adventure will find the remains of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria, Cleopatra’s palace, obelisks, effigies, coins, majestic foundations, building columns, everyday objects and monumental statues of ancient Egyptian rulers. But, to get there, it is necessary to hire a diving excursion from an authorized agency.

At a depth of 10 to 12 metres, on the Crimean peninsula, is another of the most fascinating museums that shelters a bit of the story of the former Soviet Union. Its main attraction are the more than 50 sculptures of former Soviet leaders, among whom we can find those of Marx and others. In the exhibition, there are also replicas of emblematic buildings from around the world, such as the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, and Tower Bridge, in London.

The Cape Tarhankut Underwater Museum, also known as Leaders Alley, was created by diver Vladimir Broumensky, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the population was responsible for breaking the statues of communist leaders. Vladimir took it upon himself to take most of these sculptures to Tarhankut to be exhibited.

Another place under water that is completely amazing is the famous Lion City Shicheng, city of Ming and Qing Dynasties, dating back 2000 years🇧🇷 Shicheng stayed completely submerged under Lake Qiandao, due to the construction of a hydroelectric dam that flooded the city.

Unfortunately, access to this place is not for the general public. It is necessary to take an advanced diving course, as the site is one depth of 25 meters. But it’s worth marveling at the Chinese architecture characterized by lions and dragons and the sculpted details of a city that still looks inhabited.

Artist Jason DeCaires Taylor, along with others such as Karen Salinas Martínez and Rodrigo Quiñones Reyes, worked to provide a different museum experience on the spectacular shores of the Mexican Caribbean.

MUSA, Underwater Museum of Art, is the World’s largest underwater museum with over 470 sculptures surprising, including The Last Supper, Void and Anthropocene🇧🇷 These works merged with the reefs and were taken over by algae, creating more habitats for different species of fish. The exhibits can be viewed from a glass bottom panoramic boat or, of course, on a guided dive.

A place steeped in extraordinary history is the Port of Caesarea Maritima, built by Herod more than 2 thousand years. It is a majestic port city of great importance for the Roman Empire, as it was the first large artificial port, the largest and most modern, becoming the port capital of Israel during the Roman period.

The exact reasons why this emblematic port has been submerged are still not entirely clear, but the truth is that today you can dive and tour the ruins of this place, through 28 places of interest, with the help of a waterproof map, which allows you to appreciate the stunning Roman marine engineering and learn more about its history.

In 2016, artist Jason DeCaires Taylor opened an underwater museum similar to MUSA (which we have already mentioned in this post) in bay of Las Coloradas. The Atlântico Museum has the characteristic that differentiates it from the museums of this great artist: the sculptures are made with neutral pH concrete, in order to create a artificial reef that increases marine biomass, so his works are intended to make a call for the defense of the oceans and show a powerful visual dialogue between nature and art.

Until today and with the 12 installations of the museum, the space has been frequented by angel sharks, barracudas, sardines, octopuses, sponges and occasionally by butterfly rays.

Built by the Chamber of Commerce of Antalya, Turkey, this museum aims to show the richness of the culture of the place through different artistic expressions. Some of them are: The War of Independence, Whirling Dervishes, Garden of Flowers, Camel Caravan and The Temple of Poseidon, Where 110 sculptures are exposed under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, built with specific materials to, once again, merge nature with art.

The sculptures are placed at three different depths: 12, 18 and 25 meters. The works vary between one and six meters in height, with a weight of up to five tons each. Access to the park is completely free, you just need a certificate from a basic diving course.

The theme of the museum is one of the saddest episodes in human history: The Second World War. Some time ago, in the waters of the Adriatic Sea, objects that were part of that era were found and that’s how this idea was conceived. It is a museum with about 300 meters, between 5 and 15 meters deep🇧🇷 Among the works are replicas of Venetian cannons, antique amphoras, 4th and 5th century anchors and machine guns.

Its main attraction is a bronze replica of the Greek statue of apoximenon🇧🇷 The original is a statue found by a tourist, restored and taken to the museum in Kvarner, Croatia.

If you have the opportunity to experience the route of any of these underwater adventures, do not hesitate to do so. It’s a unique moment when vision is altered by light, by the waves and the absolute silence that allows you to appreciate a museum in a different way. It is art that mixes with the sea and, at the same time, with history. It is living underwater art in transformation.

There is no doubt that when human beings and nature go in the same direction, everything is better. Tell me which was the most amazing museum you had the opportunity to visit.