Discovering marine organisms

Founded in 1872 by German naturalist and zoologist Anton Dohrn, the Naples Zoological Station is one of the world’s most important research institutions in the fields of marine biology and ecology.

Located in the Chiaia district, between Via Caracciolo and the Riviera, housed inside the Villa Comunale, this cutting-edge scientific institution also carries out important analyses in the field of oceanography thanks to the Vettoria, a research vessel specially built to carry out sampling at sea.

The Zoological Station also features an aquarium, one of the oldest structures in Europe, with an impressive museum area where you can admire fish and fossils from the Gulf of Naples.

Equally fascinating is the library, which boasts over 90,000 books, divided and catalogued across about three thousand metres of shelves, all within a beautifully frescoed hall.

As well as 20,000 samples of marine fauna, the station also contains a comprehensive herbarium of the marine flora of the Gulf of Naples.