Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano as part of the regeneration of the old port for the 1992 Columbus celebrations, the Aquarium of Genoa is the largest aquarium in Italy and one of the largest in Europe, displaying more than fifteen thousand animals from around six hundred species in seventy tanks spread across a long pier-built complex on the waterfront. The aquarium sits on a pier that juts out into the old port, with the main building shaped like a moored ship and a separate floating biosphere added in the early 2000s. The combination of glass, steel and water makes the building itself a piece of port architecture, deliberately echoing the maritime context. The route through the galleries leads visitors past tanks recreating habitats from around the world, including the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Atlantic and the Antarctic, with sharks, dolphins, manatees, penguins, jellyfish and reef fish among the highlights. A separate cetacean pavilion houses bottlenose dolphins in an open-air saltwater pool with underwater viewing. The aquarium is the centrepiece of a much larger conservation and research operation that takes in the nearby Galata Maritime Museum, the biosphere greenhouse, an old whaling vessel and the Bigo, a Piano-designed glass lift that offers panoramic views over the port and the rooftops of the old city. The complex is operated by Costa Edutainment as part of a broader Aquario di Genova brand that also includes facilities in Cattolica, Livorno and elsewhere, and the institution runs serious research programmes on marine biology and conservation, training scientists and running educational programmes for schools. Reached by a short walk from the historic centre of the city, the aquarium is the single most visited paid attraction in Genoa and one of the most popular family destinations in the whole of northern Italy, drawing more than a million visitors a year and serving as the anchor of the entire Porto Antico cultural quarter.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Ponte Spinola, Genoa, Italy

Website: https://www.acquariodigenova.it

Opening Date: 22/10/1992