A Not-to-be-Missed Visit for Tourists in Monaco

20/08/2010  Leisure

"The" place to visit in 2010 – the Oceanographic Museum



The year 2010 marks the centenary of a museum that is dear to the hearts of the Monegasques, the Oceanographic Museum.   The Museum has had a makeover, and after several months of restoration, it has regained the original red of its walls and its former splendour.  Its many visitors never tire of seeing this magnificent temple of the sea, which is devoted to the science of oceanography, over and over again.

The originator of this noble building was the Sovereign Prince Albert Ist, scholar and explorer, who devoted his life to both the Principality and scientific research.

The Museum houses 6,000 specimens of fish in their natural environment, which has been faithfully reconstructed.  It has one of the oldest scientific aquariums in the world.  From 1903 onwards, Mediterranean fish and invertebrates were kept in concrete tanks.  The Museum's teams are renowned all over the world for their skill in reconstructing living eco-systems, and are continually improving these tanks, which are full of living things.

The Aquarium presents Mediterranean and tropical eco-systems in around a hundred storage areas, which measure up to 400 cubic metres, not counting 100 reserve tanks.  Three hundred Mediterranean species are represented.  To celebrate this renaissance, a photographic itinerary retraces the building of the Museum.  The exhibition "Cornucopia," by artist and darling of the media, Damien Hirst, makes a link between art and science and can be enjoyed until 30 September.


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