Aquarium.

Inaugurated for the 1992 World Expo, the Aquarium of Genoa remains one of Europe’s largest and most diverse marine hubs. Situated in the Old Harbor, the facility’s unique architecture—designed in part by Renzo Piano—resembles a ship at dock, with some exhibits extending directly into the water. Its 70 ecosystems house over 12,000 animals, ranging from manatees and penguins to sharks and playful bottlenose dolphins in the open-air Cetacean Pavilion. Beyond the tanks, the site features the Biosphere, a glass-and-steel orb containing a miniature tropical forest, and a tactile pool where visitors can pet stingrays. It is a massive, meticulously organized facility that balances serious marine conservation with the sheer spectacle of the Mediterranean and the world’s oceans.