The Malacological Museum of the Franciscan Monastery in Makarska was opened to the public on 30 April 1963 in the old part of the Franciscan Monastery, which is a protected cultural monument. It contains more than 3000 specimens of exposed shells. In the museum you can see not only the shells of the Adriatic Sea, but also many species from tropical and subtropical seas, which also have the most attractive colours and shapes among all the shells.

About the museum

The Makarska Malacological Museum is one of the most valuable cultural institutions, both in the city of Makarska and the entire country. The Malacological Museum of the Franciscan Monastery was founded in 1963 by Dr. Fra. Jure Radić with an attractive exhibition of shellfish from the Adriatic and the entire world. In addition to a valuable and rich seashell collection, Dr. fra Jure Radić also preserved a valuable herbarium of plants from the Biokovo mountain as well as smaller palaeontological collections. The founder of the museum was the son of a sailor, who since childhood gazed at the sea and its gifts, especially shells along the coast and islands of Croatia, as well as the world. The majority of the museum's holdings in the exhibition area are shells of sea snails, shellfish and several specimens from other classes of molluscs, as well as corals and a small number of other marine species. In addition to shellfish from our sea, the exhibition includes shells from other seas and oceans: Hawaii, Oceania, California, China, Japan, the Caribbean, Australia, Madagascar, Tanzania, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Red Sea, Antarctica and the Coral Barrier.

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