Even though the space is rather limited in this historic jewel, the number of museums as well as the richness of their collections is very surprising. Not only are the museums with historical theme so numerous and with rich collections, but there are also museums dedicated to contemporary art. Therefore, visitors will be able to learn about the wealthy period of Venetian commerce, expansions and falls, but also to learn about contemporary art where some visitors will admire the modern art, while others will wonder if this is really art. On this page you will find a full list of museums in the city of Venice.
Museum Palazzo Ducale is located in Doge’s Palace in Venice. This breath taking palace testifies to the wealth and importance of the Venetian Republic, especially through its beautiful architecture and enormous fresco-painted institutional rooms that fascinate most visitors.
The museum Correr is one of the museums in the group of Piazza San Marko museums. It is located in a part of the palace once built for kings and emperors of the newer Venetian history. Visitors will evidence different lavishly decorated rooms which were once used by different sovereigns, but also learn about the history of the Venetian Republic and get to know Venetian art.
Great School of San Rocco or in Italian Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a unique tourist attraction in Venice, which is deeply rooted in the Venetian tradition. These schools were actually confraternities where people with similar interests met in order to wield more political power. Members of these schools were mostly merchants and ordinary citizens i.e. people who were not of noble background.
The Gallerie dell'Accademia was open in 1750, when the Republic of Venice decided to form an Academy of painters and sculptors. The first director of the Academy was the painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta and the building "Fonteghetto della Farina" was the first headquarter of the Academy. Initially, only the works of the Academy students were collected here. During the Napoleonic occupation in 1807, the School of Art was moved to a more suitable place, a place where three important religious buildings are currently housed.
In 1948, Peggy Guggenheim was invited to exhibit her collection at the first Venice Biennale that took place after the end of the World War II. For the first time, Cubist, abstract, surrealist works by contemporary artists such as Pollock and Mark Rothko were exhibited in Europe. This was the most complete and coherent pavilion of modern art ever presented in Italy. This collection of works arrived in Venice and never went away, because in the meantime Peggy decided that she had had enough of New York and it was time to return to Europe.
