Another reopening took place this summer 2021: we are talking about the Naples Aquarium (*) which had been closed for several years and which in June was reopened to the public in its new guise. The structure is now fully accessible to people in wheelchairs and is equipped with impeccable toilets equipped for the disabled. Access to the Aquarium is free for us and at a reduced price for the companion. We immediately clarify that those expecting a phantasmagoric structure such as the Aquarium of Genoa or the Oceanarium of Lisbon risk a bitter disappointment, which has already manifested itself on social media by people who evidently had never visited the Aquarium before closing. The Naples Aquarium (https://fondazionedohrn.it/home/aquarium/) is in fact a large exhibition hall created in 1874 to illustrate the work of the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, created in 1872 for research in the fields of marine biology and ecology (http://www.szn.it/index.php/it/). From the Aquarium website we get this text that explains the structure: Located on the ground floor, the Aquarium was connected, and still is today, directly to the sea by an underground canal. The engineering work was entrusted to the English William Alford Lloyd, who had already developed the aquariums in London and Hamburg. The exhibition rooms received natural light from the side windows and skylights and the semi-darkness thus generated made the visit even more immersive.
Today the architectural layout has remained unchanged. The restoration and necessary modernization works have allowed the maintenance of the ancient exhibition tanks dedicated to the environments of the Gulf of Naples and the peculiarities of its marine life, equipping them with the most modern and sophisticated technological systems to ensure the well-being of the organisms that populate it. [...] Of particular interest will be the murenarium, which represents the breeding structures of moray eels (murenari) designed by the ancient Romans and well preserved in the submerged archaeological area of Gaiola in Capo Posillipo. Another novelty is the octopus tank, an extraordinary ancient organism that has a life cycle of about two years and an intelligence similar to that of mammals. Let's start by taking a look at the majestic nineteenth-century building located on the seashore that houses the zoological station and the aquarium:
Let's take a look at the tanks, starting with the one where we caught the moment of the preparation of the meal by a diver:
After the visit to the Aquarium which, by the way, excites children a lot, let's remember that we are inside the Villa Comunale and therefore on the seafront, where there are many restaurants, among which there are certainly two that meet our requirements: Mammina (*): Via Partenope 15/18, Naples +39 081 2400001 www.mammina.com Rosso Pomodoro (*): Via Partenope 11, Naples +39 081 7646012 (*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for the disabled