Cretaquarium
Cretaquarium (, Enidrio Kritis), also known as Thalassocosmos (, "sea world"), is a public aquarium located near the town of Gournes in Crete, Greece, 15 km east of the city of Heraklion.
Key facts
- Zoo.zoo_name
- Cretaquarium
- Zoo.logo
- Cretaquarium_Logo.png
- Zoo.logo_width
- 80px
- Zoo.image
- Cretaquarium_entrance.jpg
- Zoo.image_width
- 300px
- Zoo.image_caption
- Main entrance view
- Zoo.location
- Gournes, Crete, Greece
- Zoo.area
- 1.600 m2
- Zoo.num_species
- 250
- Zoo.num_animals
- 2,500
- Zoo.largest_tank_vol
- 600,000 lt
- Zoo.total_tank_vol
- 1,800,000 lt
- Zoo.management
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History
- Exhibits
- Playing with the light
- Open Sea
- Coastal areas
- The Aquarium beyond the glass
- Travelling to the Tropics
- Research
- See also
- References
- External links
Cretaquarium (, Enidrio Kritis), also known as Thalassocosmos (, "sea world"), is a public aquarium located near the town of Gournes in Crete, Greece, 15 km east of the city of Heraklion.
==History== The Cretaquarium project was conceived by employees of the former Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC) to create the first large aquarium in Greece, as part of a marine park for research, education, culture and recreation. Its construction was co-financed by the European Investment Bank and the Greek state. Cretaquarium first opened on the site of the former USAF Iraklion Air Station near the town of Gournes in December 2005 and underwent a major expansion during the winter of 2008–9, when 25 new tanks were installed. The aquarium is currently operated by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, a public research institution.