Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria

About

Albaola Maritime Culture Factory is a shipyard museum in Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. A scientific replica of the San Juan whaleship of the 16th century is being built in public, using the techniques and materials of the time. In 2015 the construction process of the whaleboat obtained UNESCO protection.

In 2018 the museum received 63,000 visitors. At the end of the 20th century, the remains of a Basque ship were found in the harbour at Red Bay, Labrador. After analyzing the remains of the ship and the old documents of Gipuzkoa from those times, they found out that they belonged to the remains of the San Juan whaling ship, which sunk due to a storm in that bay.

By the 16th century, Basque sailors were fishing for whales and cod, and they established advanced fishing posts in Labrador and Newfoundland. The largest of them was in Red Bay: it had around 900 people, and 15 whaleboats traveled every year. The remains of the San Juan whaleship were found in that bay.

Today, in the town of Red Bay, there is the Museum of Basque Whalers, which displays a boat recovered from the San Juan whaling ship. The remains of the San Juan whaleship were found in that bay. Today, in the town of Red Bay, there...