Stay at BEST WESTERN Moderno Verdi Hotel and dive the Acquarium of Genoa's 70 tanks!

The Aquarium of Genoa is the largest aquarium in Italy and among the largest in Europe. Located in the old harbor area of Genoa, Italy, the 33,000-square-foot aquarium is a member organization of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and welcomes more than 1.2 million visitors each year.

The aquarium was originally built for Genoa Expo '92, celebrating 500 years since the Genoan sailor Christopher Columbus discovered the new world. The building, which some say looks like a ship ready to head out to sea, was designed by the Genoese architect Renzo Piano. The interior design and initial exhibits for the opening in 1992 were designed by Peter Chermayeff leading a design team at Cambridge Seven Associates. In 1998 the aquarium was expanded with the addition of a 100-metre (330 ft) ship connected by walkway to the original building.

The original exhibition concept was to show the Ligurian Sea, the North Atlantic and Caribbean reefs "from two perspectives, one the New World/Old World encounter of 1492, the other the ecological awareness of 1992 and the present."

The aquarium includes 70 tanks containing a total of 6,000,000 liters and almost 10,000 meters (33,000 ft) of exhibit space.