One of the world’s oldest aquariums has reopened in Amsterdam following a five-year, €50 million restoration that preserved a functioning piece of 19th-century engineering history.
The ARTIS Aquarium reopened on 13 June 2026, ending a closure that began in early 2021. The building had to shut because more than 140 years of saltwater had eaten through its walls, rendering it structurally unsafe.
Total costs reached nearly €50 million. Around €28 million came from government funding, with the remainder raised through donors and private fundraising. The municipality of Amsterdam was the first public body to commit, followed by other government bodies. Rembrandt Sutorius, director of ARTIS, told NRC: “Everybody thought the aquarium had to be saved. But when it came to money, people looked at each other.”
The restoration had two distinct goals: structural repair and a wholesale reinvention of the visitor experience. The historic aquarium has been transformed into a contemporary experience about the importance of water for all life on Earth, combining monumental heritage, living animals, immersive installations, science and art under one roof. Sutorius described the broader ambition: “The new Aquarium tells what may be one of the most important nature stories of our time: without healthy water, there is no life.”
The aquarium now holds around 250 species, ranging from cuttlefish to short-tail nurse sharks, alongside interactive galleries. Visitors can also see the critically endangered European eel, poison dart frogs and a Brazilian rainbow boa snake in a tropical Amazon gallery.
Central to the project was the preservation of a rare engineering artefact. The restoration preserved the aquarium’s original Victorian filtration system, designed by British aquarist William Alford Lloyd, which ARTIS describes as the last of its kind still working anywhere in the world. The Lloyd system was carefully preserved, restored and made visible to visitors as part of the exhibition narrative.
The roof now carries solar panels, some aquarium tanks are made of self-healing concrete, and historic colours and materials have been restored wherever possible. In January 2025, ARTIS received official recognition as a Professional Organisation for Monument Conservation, a status granted partly on the strength of the aquarium restoration itself.
Around 90% of the building is open to visitors, including the catacombs that house the Lloyd filtration system. The aquarium is open daily from 9am to 6pm and is included within a standard ARTIS-Park ticket, priced from around €29.50 for adults and €25.50 for children aged three to 12.
Image: ARTIS Aquarium
