The Museum of the Sea and the Shipwrights was created in close connection with a fundamental element of ancient and modern city life: the sea.
Through the recovery and highlighting of the historical and cultural tradition of the Shipwrights, knowledge of the lagoon and its connection to Sardinia’s coastal maritime heritage, represented by the network of lighthouses and traffic lights dedicated to maritime control and signaling, is brought into system. Shipwrights were historically considered leading professionals within the old shipyards, true experts in choosing the right type of lumber whose essence they could recognize and, based on the characteristics, the correct location within the vessel. Their skill lay in being able to adapt the original wood stump to its intended purpose by shaping it with a tool called, precisely, an “axe.” Sant’Antioco is today one of the very few municipalities in Italy where this tradition survives, with the practice of boat building being carried out in small family-run businesses.
