II Section – Games of exchange


This section will illustrate the fundamental role played by the sea in the transport of goods and people. With the help of archaeological findings, ancient geographical maps, portolan charts, paintings, drawings, engravings and pictures will be arranged to display the structures, merchandise and means of transport concerning the routes of sea trade: loaders, ports, markets, ships, freighters, anchors, rudders, compasses, amphorae, chests, cranes, examples of foodstuffs and goods.

Likewise, commercial routes and migration flows (such as those of Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans) should be extensively documented together with privateer raids (Byzantine, Saracen, Ottoman and Christian), the positions of watch towers, the places where naval battles took place (Egadi Islands, Lepanto, Capo Passero) and the different ship types (from triremes to libarnes, from foists to drakkars, from galleys to sailing vessels, from corvettes to battleships, from ferries to passenger ships).

Special attention should also be paid to migration from the Mediterranean area to America, a phenomenon which occurred between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and whose historical importance is fundamental worldwide.