Wonder at the Prestigious Musée Océanographique in Monaco
January 30, 2017
Perched high on a sheer cliff, this museum of marine science with its spectacular aquarium is the finest of its kind.
Monaco’s prestigious Musée Océanographique on the French Riviera was founded in 1910 by Prince Albert I, who was an eager oceanographer, as an institute for scientific research and to house the many marine specimens he collected on his numerous voyages.
Financed by profits from the Casino, it took 11 years and 100,000 tons of white stone from la Turbie to build. The resulting edifice, with its staggering 279ft sheer façade that plunges straight into the sea, is a masterpiece of monumental architecture.
The museum contains some exceptional collections of nautical instruments, marine flora and fauna, including the skeletons of a 66ft whale and a 441lb giant turtle; models of all the magnificent ships built for the sovereign’s voyages, along with the laboratory installed in his last boat, Hirondelle II; displays demonstrating natural sea phenomena such as waves, tides, currents and salinity; and the first submarine.
The basement of the Musée Océanographique houses the famed Aquarium, which exhibits thousands of rare fish with beautifully lit displays of living corals from all over the world, in a huge state-of-the-art Shark lagoon and in 90 tanks with a direct supply of sea water. Don’t miss the Pacific black tipped sharks, the Australian leafy sea-dragons, the shimmering sea slugs, the luminous yellow sturgeon, the sinister black lantern-eye fish and, if you are to spot them, the camouflaged marine chameleons.
The remainder of the building contains research laboratories specialising in the study of ocean pollution and radioactivity that were previously headed by marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.
Richard Reeves is the founder of Essential Sailing and if you have been inspired to relax on a luxury sailing holiday, why not make this idyllic world your reality.
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