Gemstone lovers should be delighted. Since the beginning of August, the Freeport Maritime Museum (Bahamas Maritime Museum) in the Bahamas has offered to discover a treasure that has been buried in the sea for more than 350 years. The loot includes a collection of jewelry of rare elegance. , including emeralds, an intact amethyst, silver bars and a magnificent chain of gold rings dating from the 17th century.
The history of this discovery also goes back to the century of Louis XIV. In 1656, the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Miracles, English) left the port of Havana, Cuba, to return to Spain. But the ship, carrying treasures from America and contraband coins, never reached its destination. On the night of January 4, 1656, he collided with his flagship due to a navigational error.
Of the 650 crew members on board at the time, only 45 survived the sinking. According to experts, the thousands of objects found were probably intended for buyers from the aristocracy or even royalty.
At the beginning of the discovery, a wealthy American businessman
A few centuries later, an enthusiast set out to find the loot. His name is Carl Allen, a wealthy businessman from Texas. With the help of scientists and archaeologists, man has thoroughly studied the bottom of the sea for several years. The team, named Allen Exploration, specifically used state-of-the-art technology such as ultra-sophisticated GPS as well as high-resolution magnetometers. After two years of research, the Spanish galleon was finally located 70 kilometers off the coast of Florida.
The value of this extraordinary treasure will be several tens of millions of dollars, without an exact figure. Still determined not to sell anything, Carl Allen decided to immediately open a museum in the Bahamas to display his discovery. There, the treasure will be permanently displayed. To the delight of fans…
Maritime Museum of the Bahamas, Sea Horse Road, Port Lucaya Marketplace, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas (Adult €18, Child €12 5-12, free for children under 5, open daily except Sundays, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
Source: Le Figaro
