The Vasco da Gama Aquarium is a place of childhood memories for many of us, with several generations of the same families visiting us as if they were returning home.
Built in 1898 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route to India, the Vasco da Gama Aquarium became a Portuguese Navy asset in 1901, starting a journey that has spanned more than a century. The Aquarium was part of a larger group of public aquariums that were created all over the world between the end of the 19th century and the First World War. Following that first boom, most of these were closed or converted into modern aquariums.
Contrary to this trend, the Vasco da Gama Aquarium remained open to the public and developed a small museum of natural history, which was greatly enriched by the collection of King Carlos I Oceanographic Museum, which was entrusted to it in 1935.
It was in the Vasco da Gama Aquarium that the aquatic sciences took their first steps in Portugal, and it was here that many marine biologists found training and research opportunities.
In recent years, the institution has undergone a new phase of change, which if visible in its new ICT facilities. Without losing sight of its history, the Aquarium is moving towards the future.
Yet despite the many structural and organisational changes, its original purpose stays alive: to bring together naturalists, fishermen, researchers and interested visitors of all ages through their love of the aquatic life and the natural sciences.
