Acquario e Civica Stazione Idrobiologica

The Civic Aquarium is the third oldest aquarium in Europe. It was designed by the architect Sebastiano Locati and inaugurated on 28 April 1906 as part of the International Exhibition of Milan. It is considered one of the most valuable and significant examples of Milanese Liberty (Art Nouveau) architecture and represents the only pavilion built in Parco Sempione that was not dismantled after the conclusion of the exhibition.

The aquarium’s exhibition route narrates the story of water from the moment atmospheric precipitation flows into a mountain stream until it reaches the sea, passing through the main environments that are formed along the way. The reconstructed environments are Italian and Mediterranean, with the exception of one tank located outside the main route, which reproduces a Red Sea coral reef as an example of the possible evolution of the Mediterranean Sea in the coming years. The display tanks, arranged along the elliptical exhibition path, can be explored by following the current or moving against it, that is, from the mountains to the sea or vice versa. The aim is to offer a detailed view of Italian freshwater and marine environments.