Description
Trieste's Acquario Marino is a small historic aquarium on the Rive, the city's waterfront, opened in 1933 in a wing of the old Central Fish Market. You don't come here for the great oceans, but to see up close the fish and creatures of the Adriatic, the ones you usually meet only on the market stalls.
The Art Nouveau building, from 1913, is by the architect Giorgio Polli. Its “bell tower” was actually a water tower: it held the tank of seawater that flowed down to the fish counters. The fish market's great hall has become an exhibition space, the Salone degli Incanti.
The 25 tanks recreate different marine environments and mostly house Adriatic species: coelenterates, annelids, molluscs, echinoderms such as starfish and sea urchins, and crustaceans. On the ground floor, the octagonal tank with sharks and rays stands out.
The system still follows the original design. The water is drawn straight from the sea, at the foot of the pier, pumped 20 metres up into the tower and only lightly filtered: with it, plankton, eggs and larvae enter the tanks, and sometimes the murkiness of the gulf too.
Many residents come from fishermen's nets: the fishermen work with the aquarium to save them. After the vet's care, some still bear the marks of hooks and fishing lines.
On the first floor is the vivarium, with amphibians, reptiles and freshwater fish. A large terrarium recreates a Karst pond, where toads, green frogs and fire-bellied toads breed. The snakes include every venomous species you might meet in this part of Europe, as well as exotic species found abandoned around the city.
The ground floor also had a penguin pool. The star of the house was in fact a South African penguin named Marco, who lived in the aquarium for 31 years. And the official name, Civico Aquario, is spelled without the “c”, the Latin way, as was decided in 1933.
The Art Nouveau building, from 1913, is by the architect Giorgio Polli. Its “bell tower” was actually a water tower: it held the tank of seawater that flowed down to the fish counters. The fish market's great hall has become an exhibition space, the Salone degli Incanti.
The 25 tanks recreate different marine environments and mostly house Adriatic species: coelenterates, annelids, molluscs, echinoderms such as starfish and sea urchins, and crustaceans. On the ground floor, the octagonal tank with sharks and rays stands out.
The system still follows the original design. The water is drawn straight from the sea, at the foot of the pier, pumped 20 metres up into the tower and only lightly filtered: with it, plankton, eggs and larvae enter the tanks, and sometimes the murkiness of the gulf too.
Many residents come from fishermen's nets: the fishermen work with the aquarium to save them. After the vet's care, some still bear the marks of hooks and fishing lines.
On the first floor is the vivarium, with amphibians, reptiles and freshwater fish. A large terrarium recreates a Karst pond, where toads, green frogs and fire-bellied toads breed. The snakes include every venomous species you might meet in this part of Europe, as well as exotic species found abandoned around the city.
The ground floor also had a penguin pool. The star of the house was in fact a South African penguin named Marco, who lived in the aquarium for 31 years. And the official name, Civico Aquario, is spelled without the “c”, the Latin way, as was decided in 1933.