The Oceanographic Museum (''Musée océanographique'') is a museum of marine sciences in

Monaco-Ville Monaco City (french: Monaco-Ville) is the southcentral ward in the Principality of Monaco. Located on a headland that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, it is nicknamed The Rock (french: Le Rocher). The name "Monaco City" is misleading: it is no ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. This building is part of the Institut océanographique, which is committed to sharing its knowledge of the oceans.

History

The Oceanographic Museum was inaugurated in 1910 by Monaco's modernist reformer,

Prince Albert I Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I ...

. who invited to the celebrations not just high officials and celebrities but also the world-leading oceanographers of the day to develop the concept of a future Mediterranean Commission dedicated to oceanography, now called Mediterranean Science Commission.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

was director from 1957 to 1988. The Museum celebrated its centenary in March 2010, after extensive renovations.

Overview

The museum is home to exhibitions and collections of various species of sea fauna (starfish, seahorses, turtles, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters, rays, sharks, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eels, cuttlefish etc.). The museum's holdings also include a great variety of sea related objects, including model ships, sea animal skeletons, tools, weapons etc., as well as a collection of material culture and ritual objects made from, or integrating materials such as pearls, molluscs and nacre. At the first floor, ''A Sailor’s Career'' showcases the work of Prince Albert I. It includes the laboratory from ''L’Hirondelle'', the first of Prince Albert's research yachts. Observations made there led to an understanding of the phenomenon of

anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the foll ...

, for which Dr

Charles Richet Charles Robert Richet (25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist at the Collège de France known for his pioneering work in immunology. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on ...

received the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

in 1913. An aquarium in the basement of the museum presents a wide array of flora and fauna. Four thousand species of fish and over 200 families of invertebrates can be seen. The aquarium also features a presentation of Mediterranean and tropical marine ecosystems. Numerous artists display their artworks in the museum, such as

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

and Philippe Pasqua.

Architecture

This monumental example of highly charged

Baroque Revival architecture The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...

has an impressive façade above the sea, towering over the sheer cliff face to a height of 279 feet (85.04 m). It took eleven years to build, using 100,000 tons of stone from

La Turbie La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'', Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. History La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augus ...

. During construction, the names of twenty well-known oceanographic

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

s personally selected by Prince Albert I were inscribed into the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

of the museum's

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

Oceanographic research vessels inscribed on façade

''Caulerpa taxifolia''

In 1989, a French marine biologist discovered a patch of a giant, tropical seaweed ''

Caulerpa taxifolia ''Caulerpa taxifolia'' is a species of green seaweed, an alga of the genus ''Caulerpa'', native to tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. The species name ''taxifolia'' arises from the resemblance of its leaf-like ...

'' directly under the walls of the museum. The actual source and extent of this exotic introduction remain a matter of controversy.

Gallery

File:Aquarium Piranhas.jpg, Aquarium with Piranhas File:Sea turtle Monaco.jpg, Sea turtle File:Nautilus Monaco.jpg, Nautilus File:Monaco Oceanographic Museum 01.jpg, Central room of the top floor

References

External links

Official website (in French)(in English)Guide to visiting the Museum
{{Authority control Natural history museums Oceanography Museums in Monaco 1910 establishments in Monaco Monaco-Ville Museums established in 1910