The Galeón: Manila–Acapulco Galleon Museum or the Museo de Galleon is a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

under construction within the

SM Mall of Asia SM Mall of Asia, also abbreviated as SM MoA, or simply Mall of Asia or MoA, is a large shopping mall in the Philippines, located at Bay City, Pasay, Philippines, within the SM Central Business Park, a reclaimed area within Manila Bay, and the ...

complex in

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, i ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The museum will feature Manila–Acapulco galleon trade and will also house a full-scale replica of a

Galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

within its interior.

Development

Conceptualization

Efforts to build a galleon museum dates back in 2010 when

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

Secretary

Alberto Romulo Alberto Gatmaitan Romulo (born August 7, 1933) is a Filipino politician and diplomat. He served in the Philippine in various capacities as Executive Secretary, Finance Secretary, Foreign Affairs Secretary, and Budget Secretary. His most recent o ...

organized a diplomatic reception attended by ambassadors from 32 countries linked to the historical

Galleon Trade fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...

. In the meeting such plans to build the museum were discussed. Then-Philippine Senator

Edgardo Angara Edgardo Javier Angara (, September 24, 1934 – May 13, 2018) was a Filipino politician who served as the President of the Senate of the Philippines from 1993 to 1995. He was a Senator from 1987 to 1998 and then served as Secretary of Agricultu ...

went to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

to meet with heads of relevant institutions to lobby for support for the project to build a galleon museum. Talks with the National Archives of Mexico, Colegio de Mexico,

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

and

Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí The Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (in es, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, UASLP) is a public university in Mexico. It is the largest, oldest, and most comprehensive university in the state of San Luis Potosí, as well as ...

to discuss on a research collaboration with Philippine universities and academics. Mexican firms

Grupo Carso Grupo Carso is a Mexican global Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company owned by Carlos Slim. It was formed in 1990 after the merger of Corporación Industrial Carso and Grupo Inbursa. The name Carso stands for Carlos Slim and Soumaya Domit ...

Carlos Slim Helú Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from h ...

FEMSA Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., doing business as FEMSA, is a Mexican multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. It operates the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world and the la ...

, and

Cemex CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries. ...

as well as Guerrero State government stated that they will back the galleon museum project. The plans to build a galleon museum were supported by Mexican politicians and figures such as

Margarita Zavala Margarita Ester Zavala Gómez del Campo (; born on 25 July 1967) is a Mexican lawyer and politician serving as Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Mexico City's 10th District since 2021. She is the wife of the former President of Mexico Felip ...

, First Lady of then President

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 1 December 2006 to 30 November 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 a ...

, Senators Teofilo Torres Corzo, and Humberto Mayans, as well as Mexican academics and publications also expressed support. Philippine based-cultural agencies requested government seed funding from the Philippine government while a public fund raising was made. A presidential instruction by President

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

was made to provide financial support. However, this instruction was unsuccessful.

Henry Sy Henry Tan Chi Sieng Sy Sr. (; ; October 15, 1924 – January 19, 2019) was a Filipino businessman and investor. Born in Fujian, he moved with his family to the Philippines at age 12. While his family returned to China, he stayed behind and f ...

, President of

SM Prime Holdings SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) is a Filipino integrated property developer and a public subsidiary of SM Investments Corporation. It was incorporated on January 6, 1994, to develop, conduct, operate and maintain the SM commercial shopping cent ...

, later offered to build the museum and donate a lot within the

complex. The Museo de Galleon Foundation was created for the project. In mid-2015, Sy met with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim in Mexico with the latter agreeing to donate artifacts to the SM Group for the museum.

Construction and delayed museum opening

The initial estimate for the museum construction was pegged at , an amount which would be spent by the SM Group. Construction began in November 2014 and was initially planned for completion by late 2015. The museum was then planned to be opened in the 2nd quarter of 2016, but the opening date was moved at least three times to the 3rd quarter of the same year, to early 2017, and later to August 8, 2017. The latest given date was planned to be the soft opening of the museum. On that date, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

, an "executive preview" of the museum was held, although the museum itself is yet to open. An architectural firm based in Mexico along with architects based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States, were also involved in the project. The dome structure was built on a lot provided by the SM Group.

COVID-19 vaccination hub

In April 2021, the Pasay City Government and SM Group announced plans to temporarily use the dome structure as a vaccination hub as a response against the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The vaccination hub, also known as the "Giga Vaccination Center," was opened on May 7. It is considered to be one of the country's largest vaccination centers, capable of vaccinating 2,000 people daily.

Museum layout

The museum will have an of total exhibition space and will feature a full-scale replica of a

which will be long within the interiors the museum. Visitors of the museum will be able to observe the construction of the replica which will take about 2 years to be completed. The museum will have three stories and will measure . The exhibit will have a linear presentation arranged in chronological order. Five permanent galleries and a temporary exhibition space will be housed by the museum. Among the exhibits to be housed in the museum are religious icons, navigation instruments and trade commodities originating from 42 countries involved in the galleon trade. The Center for Pacific Trade and Cultural Studies, a research institute dedicated to the galleon trade, is also planned to be hosted inside the museum building.

References