The Civic Aquarium is housed in a splendid Art Nouveau building which, with its friezes and majolica tiles, tells the story of its contents on the outside. It was set up in 1906, as part of the International Exhibition of Milan, and is the only pavilion built in the Sempione park not to have been dismantled once the event was over. It is the third oldest aquarium in Europe. It is located next to the Civic Arena and on the edge of Sempione Park, of which it reproduces the elliptical architecture.
The current layout of the building and the tanks is the result of the renovation (2003-2006) which has returned the Institute, in its new form, to visitors and the public.
