Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

The most-visited non-profit historical museum in the Southeast contains the richest single collection of 17th-century maritime antiquities in the western hemisphere and has become a major center for the study of early European maritime history in the New World. The largest part of the collection is made up of more than 85,000 artifacts from the Spanish galleons Nuestra Seora de Atocha and Santa Margarita; the museum features a permanent hands-on exhibtion containing historical artifacts and treasure from these ships. Among the pieces are two of Fishers most spectacular early finds, the gold plate and the gold cup used to detect poisoned wine; a heavy golden priest's chain, the only known surviving example of a "cinta" necklace or belt; a 17th-century navigator's astrolabe; and scores of contraband emeralds. The museum also hosts traveling exhibitions, offers educational programs for school-age children, and operates an on-site museum.