To spend a night in the company of sharks: the Genoa Aquarium
To spend a night in the company of sharks, to live the thrilling experience of an adventure with the fearsome predators of the sea, from dusk till dawn, visiting the tanks at twilight and in the morning observing the awakening of the environments, or to dine alongside the friendly cetaceans, the next one scheduled for the month of June, witnessing their performances and getting acquainted with their curious gazes, you don’t need to travel to exotic locations, undergoing exhausting intercontinental journeys, it’s enough to take a train, the most suitable means of transportation these days, to reach Genoa, home to the third largest aquarium in Europe (after Valencia and Istanbul).
Built in 1992 on the occasion of the Expo organized for the fifth centenary of the discovery of America, and the result of an ambitious project conceived by the architect Renzo Piano for the enhancement of the city’s ancient port. Since then, the Aquarium and the other buildings, recovered for exhibition, cultural, and commercial purposes, have completely transformed this urban skyline, returning it to the people of Genoa and turning it into a tourist attraction for thousands of visitors from all over the world. Since its inauguration, the Aquarium has been visited by nearly 32 million tourists, numbers that testify to the importance of an imposing structure that includes 39 tanks, to which the 4 open-air tanks of the Cetacean Pavilion must be added.
Overall, its surface area measures 27,000 square meters, the tanks are home to 15 animals of 400 different species including fish, marine mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates arranged in various spaces that reproduce specific ecosystems: Ancient Pier, Moray Eel Grotto, Deep Mediterranean, Siren Lagoon, Shark Bay, The Cinque Terre, Marine Protected Areas, Amazonia, Seal Beach, The World of Ice, Dolphin Coast, Mediterranean Cliff, Coral Lagoon, Tropical Forest, Tropic Routes, The Amazon River, Aeolian Islands, Moluccan Islands, Mangroves, and the Coral Reef.
To the delight of adults and children alike, it is possible to get lost in the phantasmagorical performances of jellyfish in the space entitled The Dance of the Jellyfish, or to have an incredible tactile experience by immersing your hands in the Stingray Tanks, touching these wonderful fish directly. Twice a day, visitors can enjoy the spectacle of the dolphin’s meal and listen to curiosities about them from trainers and biologists. In short, there is something for everyone’s taste and to satisfy even the curiosity of the most demanding visitors.
Photo credits: Costa Edutainment – Merlo Fotografia
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Giornalista italiano con oltre 40 anni di esperienza nel mondo dei media.
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