After an extensive five-year restoration, the new ARTIS Aquarium will ceremoniously open its doors to the public on Saturday, June 13, 2026. Here, visitors will once again come face-to-face with colorful underwater life and discover the importance of water for all living things.
The ARTIS Aquarium first opened in 1882 and is one of the oldest aquariums in the world. Within the centuries-old walls of this national monument, a new story flows that immerses visitors in the world of water, the primal source of all life. In the new Aquarium, visitors are surrounded by colorful underwater life and discover the importance of water for everything that lives. In the water and on land. From dogfish to pistol shrimp, from tree frog to yourself.
In the new Aquarium, there is much to see and do. Visitors, from young to old, journey past saltwater and freshwater life in oceans, rivers, coral reefs, mangroves, the deep seas, and the Amsterdam canals. They can build their own submarine for a dive to the ocean floor, cast a fishing line at the fishing game, or take a look behind the scenes in the Aquarium's food kitchen. Along the way, they encounter extraordinary animals, from cuttlefish to leopard triggerfish, and discover how water connects all life on Earth.
Rembrandt Sutorius, ARTIS Director: “ For five years, we have worked on the restoration and reinvention of the Aquarium. The new Aquarium tells perhaps the most important nature story of our time: without healthy water, there is no life. While oceans, rivers, and lakes worldwide are under pressure, we want visitors to experience that water connects us all. From life in the ocean to nature in our own city, or the water that flows from our taps every day. Anyone who takes a dive into the ARTIS Aquarium will look at water—and at themselves—with different eyes afterwards. ”
Where visitors could previously see only a limited part of the Aquarium, approximately 90 percent of the monument is now visible. Historic spaces that remained hidden for years — including the catacombs with the Lloyd filter system — are now part of the visitor route.
In addition, aquariums have been enlarged, deepened, and rebuilt. Behind the scenes, logistics have been completely renewed so that animal care, water quality, and welfare better meet modern standards. The focus is not on the quantity of species, but on the interconnectedness between animal, plant, and habitat. The new Aquarium takes visitors on a journey through the world of water via wet and dry spaces. Each space has a theme and tells its own story about the connection between water, underwater life, and ourselves.
A window to underwater life for all of the Netherlands
The Aquarium is living industrial heritage. In 1882, the building opened a window to a then-unknown world for the entire Netherlands: life underwater. At the time, it was hailed as a technical marvel thanks to an ingenious water filtration system by the world's first aquarist, William Alford Lloyd. Today, the Lloyd filtration system at ARTIS has been restored and supplemented with modern technology, making it the last remaining, still-functioning circulation system of this type worldwide.
It was now or never
The restoration of the Aquarium was necessary because the monument had been severely damaged by saltwater from the aquariums. Walls, ceilings, and structures were heavily damaged over the past century and a half. Only a comprehensive restoration could save the building for the future.
Respecting the original design by architect Gerlof Salm, the Aquarium has been fully restored while simultaneously being adapted to the demands of the 21st century. ARTIS also seized the opportunity of the restoration to make the national monument more sustainable. The building is equipped with monumental insulating glass, low-temperature underfloor heating, and solar panels, and part of the aquarium tanks have been cast in self-healing concrete. The Aquarium is also prepared for aquathermy: a system that uses heat from water to heat the building entirely fossil-fuel-free in the future. The restoration and renovation of the Aquarium were made possible by broad public support. Thanks to the trust of the Municipality of Amsterdam, a number of private donors, and funds, ARTIS was able to start the restoration in 2021. This was followed by significant contributions from the national government, the Province of North Holland, and many other private individuals, funds, companies, and partners.