Several years have passed since we last visited the aquarium of Livorno. At the time of our visit then it was being refurbished and less than half of it was fully open to the public. This time we decided to revisit this aquarium with its complete collection.

The Diacinto Cestoni Municipal Aquarium is located by the seafront and the Mascagni Terrace and is named after Diacinto Cestoni (1637-1718) an Italian naturalist. Diacinto was a largely self-taught apothecary and practiced in Rome, Livorno and Geneva, before returning permanently to Livorno where he cultivated his many naturalistic interests and earned the esteem of two great naturalists Francesco Redi and Antonio Vallisneri. Vallisneri was born in Trassilico an Apuan village quite near us which I have described in my post post at Trassilican Transcendence | From London to Longoio (and Lucca and beyond) Part One (wordpress.com).

The aquarium is the largest in Tuscany and was originally inaugurated on 20 June 1937. It was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt in 1950. In 1962 it was further expanded and in 1968 it became the seat of the Interuniversity Centre of Marine Biology founded by the Universities of Bologna, Florence, Modena, Siena, Pisa and Turin. On 31 July 2010 the renovated complex was finally inaugurated and now houses about two thousand fish from over three hundred different species which are displayed in thirty three tanks.

Although certainly not on the scale of Genoa’s aquarium we found Livorno’s aquarium well-managed with its occupants reasonably happy as far as we could judge from their ichthyonic expressions which are often somewhat ambiguous. I especially liked the way the tanks were displayed with their Mediterranean grotto-like borders and excellent marine vegetation.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the turtles and the skates which ‘flew’ above our heads.

The reptilarium, included in the admission price, is quite small but is well-worth visiting as well.

Adjoining the aquarium is an American-style diner with an emphasis on hamburgers and period-style café furnishings. We had a coffee here but avoided the hamburgers.

From the aquarium we proceeded on a fine walk along the seafront to the scenic Terrazza Mascagni.

Livorno once again had seduced us with its particular character so different from one’s standard view of the traditional Tuscan town.