Aquarium Giacinto Cestoni, named after the famous Italian naturalist of the 17th century, is situated in Livorno, at the end of the impressive city waterfront and Terrazza Mascagni. Originally built for the center of heliotherapy, later the building was converted, and in 1937, the year it housed an aquarium. During the Second World war, the tank was destroyed and rebuilt only in 1950, the year. Ten years later it was expanded, and in 1968, the year it housed the headquarters of the Inter-University centre for marine biology, established by the municipality of Livorno and the universities of Bologna, Florence, Modena, Siena, Pisa and Turin. At the end of the 20th century, the building of the aquarium is newly remodeled, the remodeled portion of the embankment between the shipyard of brothers Orlando and Terrazza Mascagni. In 2010, year updated the complex was opened to the public.

Aquarium Giacinto Cestoni consists of several buildings. The main building, in the centre, has the shape of a rectangle with two apses at the sides. Nearby is a semi-circular body – the result of the last reconstruction. On the South side, in the building of the cubic form, are offices. The total exhibition area of the aquarium is 3 thousand square meters – there are 65 of pools per thousand cubic meters of water. In swimming pools there are about 1200 animals belonging to 150 species. In 2010, the year this aquarium has become the third largest in Italy after the aquarium of Genoa and Cattolica.