Civic Aquarium of Milan, Public aquarium in Milan, Italy
The Civic Aquarium of Milan is a fish exhibition housed in an Art Nouveau building near Parco Sempione that displays multiple themed sections. Each area holds tanks with inhabitants from fresh and salt water environments across the continent and tropics.
Built in 1906 for Milan's International Exposition, this facility stands among Europe's oldest aquariums still operating today. Since its opening, the building has served as a center for education and research about aquatic life.
The name "Civic Aquarium" refers to its public ownership by the city of Milan, not to a person or a maritime tradition. The building was funded by Duke Giuseppe Crivelli Serbelloni, president of the Lombard Society for Fishing and Aquaculture, and inaugurated on 28 April 1906. Its facade carries a statue of Neptune by Oreste Labò, below which a fountain pours water from a hippopotamus head.
The venue is easy to reach on foot from Castello Sforzesco square in the nearby area. Visitors should allow time to walk through all sections and read the information signs at each tank to understand what they are viewing.
The facade carries a statue of Neptune by Oreste Labò, and beneath it a fountain pours from a carved hippopotamus head. Floral majolica by Richard-Ginori and aquatic-themed cement reliefs by Chini decorate the exterior. The library upstairs held one of Italy's richest marine biology collections until it passed to the Natural History Museum in 2015.
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