Museo delle Meraviglie Marine (ex Museo Ittico)

The Museum of Marine Wonders, also known as the former Ittic Museum, was created to interpret the marine environment and fishing traditions of Pescara. Its documented collection includes cetacean skeletons, turtles, shells and preserved fish specimens, linking the city's riverfront with its long relationship to the Adriatic.

Why it matters

The museum grew from Pescara's earlier Ittic Museum, whose building was declared structurally unsafe and whose collections were catalogued for transfer. A replacement museum was developed on the former site of the Di Marzio institute near the fish market. Its first section opened in December 2013 under the name Museo del Mare, also called the Museo delle Meraviglie Marine.

What to notice

The collections bring marine life into focus through large specimens and smaller forms, including sperm whale and fin whale skeletons, a dolphin, turtles and fish preserved in formalin. Shell collections, including examples assembled through private donations, add a record of marine biodiversity to the museum's account of fishing and navigation.

Context and history

Planning for the replacement institution began in the late 1990s, and construction started in 1999. The project continued through several phases before the first exhibition area opened in 2013. The museum's original Ittic collection was the foundation for its wider focus on marine environment, fishing, navigation and palaeontology.