The Drassanes Reial in Barcelona rival Venice as the most impressive surviving shipyards in the Mediterranean. The Gothic building was established under Jaume I, the Conqueror, who expanded the Catalan empire to include the Balearic islands. In 1303 Catalan mercenaries under Roger de Flor sacked Constantinople and caused such mayhem that many rallied to the Turks’ cause. All this history is laid out in the Maritime Museum, which occupies the dockyards. Most dramatic among a large collection of model and real vessels is a reconstruction of the Real, the flagship of the combined Christian fleets that defeated the Ottoman navy in 1571 at the battle of Lepanto, the last great encounter of man-powered vessels in the Mediterranean.