A replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon is set to visit the Isle of Man.

And the huge ‘floating tourist attraction’ will throw open its doors and decks to visitors when it drops anchor in Douglas next month.

The Galeón Andalucía is a full-scale reconstruction of the vessels once used by the Spanish Crown to explore and trade across the globe between the 16th and 18th centuries.

According to Vela Cuandra productions, the company behind the vessel, ships of this type formed the Fleet of the Indies, which linked Spain with the Americas and Asia through vast maritime trade routes, including the Manila Galleon Route between the Philippines and Mexico.

Traditionally the vessels carried sailors, settlers and goods across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as through the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South China Seas.

The replica vessel was launched in 2010 after17 months of construction involving a team of 150 people.

The vessel has been built using a fibreglass-based system overlaid with pine and iroko wood, thought to be the first time this method had been used on a 500-ton ship designed for ocean sailing.

At 49 metres in length and 10 metres across, the galleon has four masts, six sails and is crewed by a minimum of 15 people and boasts an average speed if seven knots.

Since its launch, the replica has retraced many of those historic routes, visiting ports around the world.

The vessel is due to drop anchor in Douglas harbour between Wednesday, July 2 and Monday, July 7.

During that time, visitors will be able to pay a fee to climb on board and explore its decks.

A spokesperson said: ‘Did you know that among its creaking timbers the Galeón Andalucía tells the story of the legendary Spanish galleons of our time? You can climb aboard and learn how the adventurous sailors of yesteryear sailed and lived.’