Loano has always had a deep connection with the sea, which influences the city's mild climate and has connoted its economic and social life for centuries. First with fishing, then with shipyards and finally with bathing establishments, the sea has been the main economic resource of the territory. Shipowners, captains, experienced sailors, fishing craftsmen and divers famous for their salvage missions and underwater searches have lived here.
It is precisely to this special bond that the Sea and Maritime Museum of Loano, hosted in Kursaal Palace. The permanent exhibition brings together authentic treasures: scale model ships, period instruments and equipment, documents, photographs, books, shipbuilding and fishing paraphernalia, maps, pilot books, logbooks, shells and more.
Among the most striking pieces are the Quasar A, a life-size, fully functioning submarine handcrafted by Mario Lentini, and a collection of diver equipment, a reminder of the exploits of Lo Loano people on missions of international significance such as the recovery of the “Scirè” off the coast of Haifa.
The exhibition was set up by the’Lodanum Marinara Cultural Association with the cooperation of local schools and associations, which have contributed over the years to enrich and enhance it.
