Venice looks like a museum itself – but you can visit actuals museums there too! See my our selection of unmissable museums in La Serenissima below.
1. San Marco Museum
Inside Basilica San Marco, the 11th-century city cathedral, you can find a museum that is undoubtedly worth visiting (for an additional fee to your entrance ticket). Museum – Loggia dei Cavalli stretches from Basilica’s vestibule to the former Sala dei Banchetti.
You can learn there about the history of the Basilica, see the original mosaics, manuscripts, tapestries from Byzantium, religious objects, and so on. Don’t miss the original quadriga of San Marco that used to stay on the top of the cathedral too!
And, of course, the views from the roof over San Marco Square and Doge’s palace are just the best of all Venezia.
2. Doge’s Palace Museum
Palazzo Ducale, where the Doge, the head of the Venetian republic, resided, was erected in 1340 in Venetian Gothic style.
Today it’s a museum where you can see a beautiful courtyard, several large historical halls where the Doge resided, and all the important political decisions were taken; an art collection, armory, and prisons that can be accessed through the Bridge of Sighs.
3. Ca’ Rezzonico
Ca’ Rezzonico is an 18th-century palace which is now a museum. It just reopened to the public this June!
Its construction started under the commission of the aristocratic Bon family. Still, it was finished by the Rezzonico family and took their name. Sadly, with no male heirs, the family died out at the beginning of the 19th century.
Famous persons who lived there later are Robert Browning, the 19th-century poet, and Cole Porter, the 20th-century songwriters, and in 1936 it was opened to the general public. It has a great collection of paintings, objects of art, and porcelain, and the interiors are great too!
4. Museo Сorrer
Museo Correr is one of the most important museums in Venice. It started in 1830 as a collection of Teodoro Correr, a famous art collector.
It’s located right on the St Mark Square: the colonnade you see on the side of it is actually a museum wing (also known as a Napoleon wing). What a perfect location for a visit – you can book tickets online or buy them on the site.
Come here to see the Canova collection, numismatic collection, arsenal, and social and political life of the Venetian republic and its most prominent figures.
5. National Archaeological Museum of Venice
The National Archaeological Museum is adjacent to the Museum Correr. It was founded in 1523 and has a great collection of ancient sculptures and bronze objects.
6. Museum of Music
Do you know that musical instruments evolved and changed a lot over time? You will see violins, mandolins, flutes, mandolin half lyras, bassoons, horns, clarinets – and many more instruments you didn’t know existed.
Every detail of each instrument contributes to the acoustic properties making the sound better! You can also learn how the musical instruments are made thanks to the special exposition in the museum too.
7. Peggy Guggenheim Museum
Peggy Guggenheim Museum is one of the leading Italian museums of modern art whose core pieces were collected by Marguerite (Peggy) Guggenheim herself. You most probably have heard about Solomon R. Guggenheim (and the museum belongs to Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation now): he was Peggy’s uncle.
The museum is actually located inside the beautiful Palazzo Venier dei Leoni with a Grand canal view and adjacent garden, and among the exhibits, you’ll find Pollock, Cocteau, Picasso, Mondrian, Ernst, Giacometti, Léger, Kandinsky and many other artists of the first half of the 20th century.
8. Murano Glass Museum
It’s worth going to Murano not only to explore the island or to participate in a workshop but also to visit the Glass Museum, founded in 1961!
You’ll learn there about all steps of glass production, from the materials and pigments to the final products, and also will see the most common patterns and themes of Murano glass objects. On the top, you’ll see different techniques and creations that were in fashion in different historical periods!
I’ve been to this museum twice and would be glad to return one more time – combine it with a stroll around Murano island!
9. Galleria dell’accademia
Galleria dell’Accademia is one of the most stunning places for the art lovers in Venezia (don’t mix it up with the Galleria in Florence!).
It was founded in 1750 in the Dorsoduro part of the city (on the south bank of Grand canal) and hosts the real treasures of Venetian heritage: paintings and sculptures from the 14th century up to the 19th century including Titian, Tintoretto, Paolo Veneziano, Veronese, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Carpaccio, Canaletto, and Tiepolo.
Did you know that famous Vitruvian man of Leonardo Da Vinci is also owned by the Galleria? And is also hosts temporary exhibitions, and the current one on display is Anish Kapoor’s works. Make sure you pop in when you’re in Venezia!
You might also like:
Guide to Venice p.1 and p.2
Hope you liked my blog!
Yours,
Anna xxx
