The MARQ receives 53 boxes with the pieces that make up the exhibition.

 

A total of 200 pieces stored in 53 boxes have reached the Archaeological Museum of Alicantetogether with more than 30,000 coinsto be part of the exhibition "The last voyage of the Fragata Mercedes"The assembly of the exhibition has already begun and will continue throughout the week. The technical director of the MARQ, Manuel Olcina, together with Susana García, curator of the exhibition, have supervised the arrival of the materials, which also include a original cannon and documents of the time (19th and 19th centuries).

During the ceremony, one of the boxes already housed in the museum was opened, containing outstanding weapons partsAmong them are a model 1812 pistol, a Spanish rifle from the same year and a gunboat blunderbuss from the early 19th century, all of them from the Cartagena Naval Museum. The compendium of objects that will be on display in Alicante as of next 9 March will offer visitors a historical perspective,archaeological,military,naval and reconstructive of the history of this vessel.

Organised by the MARQ, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Ministry of Defence, the exhibition, in which more than a dozen institutions are collaborating, tells the story of the sinking of the Fragata Mercedes and the political and military circumstances surrounding this event, which took place in October 1804.

Alicante will be the first touring venue for this compilation that will meets original artefacts from the 18th and 19th centuries, survivors' testimonies and archaeological remains, as well as audiovisual resources, scenographies, reconstructions and scale models.