As part of the Maine Maritime Museum’s 50th Anniversary celebration, Gazela Primeiro, a 177-foot three-masted wooden sailing ship, will be open for visits Saturday, July 14, and Sunday, July 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. All boarding passes will be $5.

Built and launched in Portugal in 1901, it is the oldest active wooden square-rigged sailing vessel in the U.S. This beautiful barkentine was a member of the Portuguese White Fleet, sailing to the Grand Banks each year to fish for cod using one-man dories, until 1969.

After her remarkably long career with the fishing fleet, Gazela was laid-up, but was then purchased in 1970 for the Philadelphia Maritime Museum by philanthropist William Wikoff Smith. On May 24, 1971, the ship left for its new home in Philadelphia, tracing Columbus' route via the Canary Islands and San Juan, Puerto Rico, arriving in Philadelphia on July 8, 1971.

In 1985, Gazela was transferred to the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, the nonprofit that maintains and operates the vessel with the help of donors and volunteers, sending her as Philadelphia's Tall Ship to events up and down the eastern seaboard.

Graceful and alluring, Gazela has appeared in several movies, including "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Widow of St. Pierre."