The Gil Eanes Ship, currently moored at the dock next to Viana do Castelo's main avenue, is a former hospital ship, and is now a museum ship of the Gil Eanes Foundation.
This piece of history can be visited every day of the week from 10am to 6pm, with an entrance fee of €4.50. In total, the visit to this museum ship takes between 1 and 2 hours, depending on the pace of each person, and is carried out in a circuit along a route duly signposted.
Built in 1955 in the shipyards of Viana do Castelo, this ship replaced a previous ship with the same name, which had been seized from the Germans during World War I. Built with capacity for 72 crew members, 6 passengers and 74 patients, this ship started activities as a hospital ship, being called Misericórdia do Mar.
However, over the years, it has performed a wide range of functions: it was a mail ship (handling about one thousand packages and seventy to eighty thousand letters), a supply ship (providing other vessels with goods such as fuel, food, and nets), a tugboat (totaling more than three thousand miles - about five thousand kilometers - with ships in tow), and an icebreaker. Regardless of its mission, the Gil Eannes always tried to help those at sea.
Later it was sold for scrap, being rescued by what would become known as the Gil Eanes Foundation, which opened it to the public in 1998.
The ship, which has now been completely renovated, is visited via a circuit that follows the various floors. The tour takes in all parts of the ship, from the engine room to the hospital area, the barber shop, and the galley.
In addition to the different rooms with their original appearance, there are areas where dummies have been placed in order to reproduce the layout of the room and the use of the instruments. This is especially true in the medical area.
Amongst all the visit is the engine room, which can be visited through a suspension bridge (with some stairs). Here it is possible to see the two grandiose engines that allowed this ship to move.
Additionally, information about the different divisions is presented throughout the circuit, complemented by various maps, blueprints, and schematics.
Just over 98m long and almost 14m wide, the Gil Eanes Hospital Ship is an obligatory stop for anyone traveling to the region.
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