OLDEST KNOWN KEYS-SPECIFIC HISTORICAL DOCUMENT ON DISPLAY
AT MEL FISHER MARITIME MUSEUM
A petition to King Philip IV written around 1627, summarizing the Santa Margarita salvage efforts made by Francisco Nunez Melian in the Keys, has been translated and is on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.
The document, installed in the Museum’s first floor galleries, is filled with descriptions of shipwreck salvage of that time. In addition, great detail is given to the techniques used in the recovery effort, as well as the legal and moral reasoning for salvaging the shipwreck. The document’s author was Dr. Blas Gonzalez de Ribero, attorney for Melian. The document is somewhat unusual for the period, in that its fourteen pages are printed, an indication of the level of the level and formality of its function.
It offers information about this aspect of the history of the 1622 ships that is found nowhere else and is the oldest known Keys-specific historic document.
The Mel Fisher Days celebration Thursday, June 20 begins with a parade departing at noon from the Museum at 200 Greene Street. The Melian document, the recently opened La Plata del Mar silver exhibit, and the annual Family Boatbuilding event sponsored by the Museum at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park are among the highlights of the annual Mel Fisher Days.
On Friday, July 21, there will be a showing of Mel and Deo’s movie at The Tropic Cinema on Eaton Street at 5 p.m. followed by an open house for Plata del Mar and the Melian document at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.
Don’t miss out on the annual Mel Fisher Days celebration and take your friends, family and visitors to the Museum. Today’s the Day!
