Aquarium - Varna /Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture/

The Aquarium in Varna was created thanks to the idea and initiative of Prince Ferdinand. On January 25, 1906, Varna Municipal Council, by protocol decision No. 61, granted an amount and appointed a committee to select a location for the Marine Biological Station. The main stone of the building was laid on October 22 that year. On the opening ceremony, Prince Ferdinand defined progress in the sciences and the arts as a precondition for the high development of a nation and the generator of human values. The building was completed in 1911, but because of the Balkan War, the interior remains unfurnished. In 1913, following the recommendations of zoological professors Dr. Shishkov and Dr. Morov, Ferdinand handed over the building to Sofia University. In 1914 the necessary installations and facilities were made under the supervision of Dr. Shishkov. The First World War (1915) caused serious damage to the building, which became a refuge for troops and later housing of Thracian refugees expelled from their homeland. After the end of the war in 1918, the building was used sequentially by troops until 1920; from the Machine School until 1922 and from the Fishery School until 1930.In 1932, Tsar Boris III officially opened the Marine Biological Station, and the building still retains its original function.