GENOVA'S AQUARIUM
The Aquarium of Genoa has stood in the sixteenth-century Porto Antico of the city of Genoa (Liguria) since 1992, the year of its inauguration. Considered one of the largest aquariums in Europe, the design of this huge structure owes the presence of a well-known architect, Renzo Piano, who will subsequently take care of the restoration and expansion of the same structure. In fact, in 1998, the Biodiversity Pavilion was built, using the spaces of the hull of a ship (the famous Blue Ship), connecting it to the old structure.
Owned by the Porto Antico Spa company and managed by Costa Eduntainment Spa, the same company that manages the Oltremare Park in Riccione, Cattolica Aquarium and Italia in Miniatura, this aquarium has seen more than two million visitors since its inauguration.
The Cetaceans Pavilion
The Cetaceans Pavilion was born from the idea of Renzo Piano himself and the Aquarium of Genoa: an educational and unique path, also including an important part of the Pelagos Sanctuary, an area of the Mediterranean with a notable presence of different populations of cetaceans and protected thanks to an agreement signed between Italy, Monaco and France.
Inaugurated on 27 July 2013, located between the Nave Blu and the main structure, it consists of four basins and an exhibition on two floors.
The construction of a new area was dedicated not only to the importance of the Sanctuary, but also and, above all, to the resident dolphins. Until the beginning of 2013, the dolphin habitat was located in the old structure, diversified by the new Pavilion in size and accessibility. When, in September 2012, the Aquarium of Genoa undertook to welcome the five dolphins of the Palablù of Gardaland (Veneto), the conviction that the space of the first habitat was appropriate and, above all, in compliance with the new regulations in force, was immediately discarded. .
The tanks of the first habitat of the dolphins remained in disuse, performing for a short period an adaptation and rehabilitation function following the arrival of four other dolphins from the Rimini Dolphinarium. By the end of 2015, all dolphins were permanently moved to the Pavilion.
