It is located on the northernmost tip of Rhodes and it was built during the period 1934-36 by the Italian architect Bernabiti. It is an architecturally peculiar building, featuring an entrance decorated with shells and seahorses. The Ministry of Culture has described it as a historically listed building, a distinguished example of the “International Style” architecture. It originally operated as a hydrobiology institute under the name Instituto Reale di Recerche Biologiche di Rodi (Royal Institute of Marine Biology of Rhodes). In 1937 it started operating as a research unit and since 1963 it has been operating as an Aquarium-Museum under the name “Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes”. It belongs to the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). The basement is configured as an underwater cave and the marine species, coming exclusively from the Aegean Sea, live inside 13 large and 15 small glass tanks. There are morays, eels, tortoises, gilthead sea breams, red porgies (common sea beams), triggerfish, perches, rainbow wrasses, octopuses, corals, sea anemones… The water is constantly renewed by pumping fresh from the sea, 32m deep in order to avoid temperature fluctuations.
On the Aquarium ground floor, various embalmed sea mammals and a 2,000 years Mediterranean monk seal skeleton, found in Rhodes harbor, are exhibited. The Aquarium organizes several educational programs for students and arranges seminars on oceanography, underwater archaeology and coastal zone management for students, in collaboration with the University of Connecticut.
Info
Tel. number: +30 22410 27308
