Collection of Nautical and Pilot Charts

The oldest items in the Collection are the cityscape of Šibenik and the cartographic plan of Makarska from the 16^th century, parts of the Book of Islands of the Venetian cartographer G. F. Camoci, followed by Mercator's map of Slavonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Dalmatia, published in 1648.

The cartography of the 18^th century is represented by several maps and also by two pilot charts, the work of the French cartographer Joseph Ruox. The first, "RECEUIL DES PRINCIPAUX PLANS DES PORTS ET RADES DE LA MER MEDITERRANEE", was printed in Marseille in 1764 and contains 121 sheets with plans of Mediterranean ports. The second, unfortunately, has no first page or title, but was printed in Livorno in 1795 and has 183 pages with depictions of Split and other Adriatic and Mediterranean ports.

Standing out among the maps from the 19^th century is the watercolor "PLANO TOPOGRAFICO DE RAGUSA E SOB-BORGHI COL CIRCONDARIO MARITTIMO DI BRENO E RAGUSA VECCHIA", divided into two parts. In the upper part, there is a view from the sea of ​​Dubrovnik and the surrounding hills, and in the lower part, the entire Dubrovnik coast is shown, all the way to Cavtat. The watercolor is the work of M.P. Seurich (?) from Dubrovnik and was created in 1809 by order of I. D. Garanjin from Trogir, general manager of Dubrovnik and Kotor during the French rule over the region.

The Museum also holds naval charts from the 19^th century, which were printed after expeditions by Italian, French, Spanish, English and Austrian naval officers.

The largest part of the Collection, however, consists of nautical charts and plans that are the result of 144 years of hydrographic service activity on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, from the Institute of the Imperial and Royal Navy in Pula, through the hydrographic institutions of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to today's Croatian Hydrographic Institute.

Collection manager: Petra Radić, senior curator