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[[File:Goldfish in Fish Swimming Amid Falling Flowers by Liu Cai (cropped).jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Figure 1. Goldfish being kept in a pond. Goldfish were the first type of fish purposely raised as pets. ]]
Large public aquariums have become fixtures in most major urban regions. In some places, they have become among the leading attractions for city tourism, where many aquariums have also expanded into conservation efforts and applied research along with being tourist destinations. The history of such aquariums is not completely modern, although the form in which we know aquariums today is mostly a recent development.
===Development of the Public Aquarium===
[[File:L'aquarium; vue intérieure.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Figure 2. The first large public aquarium in Paris.]]
Where fish tanks did exist, they were mostly for private use in the ancient world. Fish ponds did, however, become more public spaces in Medieval Europe, as cities and towns developed these as places to store fish for food and raise them as a type of fish farm. In the 17th century, goldfish were introduced to Europe, which, for the first time, brought a type of fish that exclusively was bred for its looks rather than taste. With the development of palatial gardens, goldfish, similar to China and Japan, began to be raised as ornamental animals.<ref>For more on fish ponds in Medieval Europe, see: Adamson, M.W. (2004) Food in medieval times. <i>Food through history.</i> Westport, Conn, Greenwood Press, pg. 42.</ref>
