The Marine Museum is located in Honfleur in the old church of Saint-Etienne, on the edge of the Old Basin.
Built in the 14th century, the church of Saint-Etienne is the oldest in the city. Dedicated to worship until the Revolution, it was then used as a store, theatre and trading exchange before housing the sale of herring from 1802 to 1809.
Its ruined bell tower was destroyed in 1808.
After 1809, it served as a real warehouse for Customs until 1897, when it was ceded to the Société du Vieux Honfleur, which restored it, had the bell tower rebuilt, erected a platform, made stained glass windows and exhibited part of its collections there from 1899.
It was in 1976 that the historical and maritime collections were transferred from the manor of ethnography to the church of Saint-Etienne.
The models, engravings, and exhibits are the result of many gifts and legacies.
All bear witness to the activities of seafarers and Honduran society in the 18th and 19th centuries: fishing, shipbuilding, great commerce, popular crafts linked to the sea…
The history and topography of the port are illustrated by an important collection of plans, engravings, paintings or watercolours of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
In the heart, you can admire a beautiful model of the «Sainte Bernadette», witness of the Honfleur fishing at the beginning of the century. In the nave was a stretcher on which was presented the blessed bread offered in this church by the cod captains upon their return from Newfoundland.