Vasco da Gama Aquarium
Where your dive begins
Inaugurated on 20 May 1898, and handed over to the Portuguese Navy in 1901, the Vasco da Gama Aquarium has been visited by successive generations of families, so much so that it is now part of everyone's imagination.
This affective memory is our greatest asset.
Witness to a specific era in the history of science, the Vasco da Gama Aquarium is linked to the beginning of the dissemination of aquatic life in our country. This historical heritage was extraordinarily enhanced with the legacy of the King Carlos I Oceanographic Museum Collection, in 1935.
Being one of the oldest public aquariums in the world, it combines, as objects of interest, its collections, the building itself and its history, attracting scholars from many areas of knowledge.
In recent years, the Navy has been improving the Aquarium's infrastructure and investing in the transition to a digital future. The area of the permanent exhibition that have already been renovated and the creation of a new technological area, project the Aquarium into a new phase of its existence, playing a key role in the ultimate search for innovation and knowledge, and in the sustainability of the ocean.
Committed to promoting Portugal's aquatic biodiversity, the live animal exhibition creates an intimate atmosphere where our visitors can let themselves be carried away by their curiosity to enjoy a closer encounter with the animals.