Although historical Venice itself is relatively small, there are a dozen of interesting museums. Some of them are not without reason considered one of the best in Italy. One Doge’s Palace is worth something. Prices bite, but bearable. Especially when you consider that many museums can be visited with 1 subscription. From this article you will learn about the 4 main museums of Venice in San Marco, their opening hours, as well as the tickets and museum maps that operate in them.
Helpful advice: When planning your trip, download the Venice mobile audio guide for iPhone. It works without the Internet and contains a ready-made audio tour of the city center. All points of the tour are marked on a convenient map, and GPS will make it easy to pave the way in the maze of city streets.
In the trial version of the audio guide, 5 out of 60 points are available. Therefore, you can try absolutely free. The full version of the route will cost only $ 6, which is many times cheaper than even the most budget excursions. You can download the audio guide to your iPhone on this page.
Museum subscription in Venice
It makes sense to start the story about the museums of Venice with museum maps, and just below you will understand why. There are 2 such basic subscriptions that allow visiting several museums in Venice - this Museum map of San Marco and Museum map of Venice.
Museum map of San Marco Lets visit the Doge's Palace, Correra Museum, Archaeological Museum and the Marchian Library. All of them are within walking distance from each other in St. Mark's Square.
Museum map of VeniceIn addition to the 4 listed museums, it allows you to visit another 7. Thus, the total number of museums included in the subscription is 11.
Museum map of Venice
In this article, in order not to make it too long, we will talk about 4 museums that are covered by the San Marco map. And about the remaining 7 can be read in a separate article.
A nice feature of the Museums of Venice is the absence of the need to buy tickets for children up to 5 years old, and children aged 6 to 14 years can count on discounts.
In addition, the subscription is valid for a month from the day indicated on it (it can be selected upon purchase), therefore, if the travel time allows, then you can visit the museums without haste - there is more than enough time.
Four main museums of the city are located on Piazza San Marco
You can clarify details and order a subscription online on this page. Immediately make a reservation that you can buy an analogue at the box office on the spot - it will cost even cheaper. The advantage of online shopping is that it allows you to avoid queues and save time, because Venice is in high demand almost all year round.
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We will go directly to the Museums of San Marco and what to expect from each of them.
Doge's Palace
Doge's Palace (aka Palazzo Ducale) remained the main residence of the Venetian rulers for about 500 years. Today it is the main attraction of the city, where paintings are stored, as well as globes, maps, weapons and other exhibits.
In its present form, the Doge's Palace was built in 1309-1424 and again restored in the same Gothic style after the fire of 1577, from which not only the building itself was seriously damaged, but the paintings of Giorgione were destroyed.
The palace was built for over a hundred years: from 1309-1424
Two staircases lead inside the palace: the Giants staircase made of Carrara marble, where the Doge’s wedding ceremony was held, and the Golden Staircase, which leads to the Great Council Hall.
The Hall of the Grand Council is considered the largest hall with no internal ceilings in the world, here is also the largest canvas in the world - the painting "Paradise" by Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, and the "Triumph of Venice" Paolo Veronese flaunts on the ceiling. The Council Hall features portraits of all the ruling doges of Venice (except for the traitor Marino Falliero).
It is also worth visiting the prison premises of Piomba, where Giordano Bruno and Giacomo Casanova were kept, a map room with two 17th-century globes and copies of Marco Polo maps. There are many secret rooms in the Doge’s Palace that were used to torture, convict, and detain criminals.
For almost 500 years, the Palace was the main residence of the Venetian rulers.
In almost every room you can see lions with wings and a book, but this is not just a symbol of the patron saint of Venice, Saint Mark - these are boxes for collecting denunciations, the help of which the Council of Ten often sought out to look for state criminals.
BlogoItaliano wrote more about the Doge's Palace in a separate article.
Opening hours:
- November to March: Mon-Sun: 8: 30-17: 30
- April to October: Mon-Sun 8: 30-19: 00
Tickets: Adult at the box office - 20 euros (the price includes access to the Doge's Palace, the Correr Museum, the Archaeological Museum and the Marchian National Library).
We also recommend that you pay attention to an excursion to the Secret Rooms of the Doge's Palace. It includes the ability to visit the premises, unavailable on regular tickets. Including secret rooms, corridors and the Bridge of Sighs. The only inconvenience - the tour is conducted in English.
Correra Museum
The Correra Museum includes three museum expositions at once: a collection of paintings, weapons and applied art of the Risorgimento Museum, an art gallery of paintings of the 12th-17th centuries, as well as documents, sea charts, coins and weapons from the collection of the city history museum.
Initially, the museum building was conceived under the personal chambers of Napoleon, but construction was completed later than planned, and the palace began to serve as the residence of the Habsburgs.
The Museum houses a collection of paintings, weapons and crafts
The first museum collection was originally stored in another place - in the palace bequeathed to Venice by the abbot Teodoro Correro, who transferred the city and its rich collection of paintings to the jurisdiction. The name of the first philanthropist remains forever in the name of the museum, which later moved to New Prosecutions.
Of the most notable exhibits, we should mention the weapons of Admiral Francesco Morosini, which can hardly be found in the usual at first glance prayer book. In such an unusual way, the admiral tried to defend himself against possible attacks even in the church.
Admiral Francesco Morosini's weapon hidden in a prayer book
Among the works of art, the work of Paolo and Lorenzo Veneziano, Giovanni Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio deserve attention. The main treasure of the museum is considered the "Pieta" by Antonello da Messina. The Correra Museum also houses a collection of sculptures by Antonio Canova.
Opening hours:
- November to March: Mon-Sun: 10: 00-17: 00
- April to October: Mon-Sun: 10: 00-19: 00
Tickets: Adult at the box office - 20 euros (single ticket for visiting the Doge's Palace, Correra Museum, Archaeological Museum and the National Library of Marchian)
Archaeological Museum of Venice
The museum, occupying the twenty halls of the New Prosecutions, is a collection of works of art from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt and Etruria, including statues, ceramics, precious stones and coins.
The archaeological museum houses the famous sculpture “Leda and the Swan”, cuneiform fragments from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, a collection of sarcophagi and ritual attributes, and other valuable finds of archaeologists.
The Venetian Archaeological Museum dates back to 1523
The museum dates back to 1523, when, according to the will of Cardinal Domenico Grimani, the Venetian Republic passed his collection of antiquities found on Quirinale Hill in Rome, where the house for the cardinal was built.
Opening hours:
- November to March: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- April to October: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The museum is closed on December 25 and January 1.
Tickets: Adult at the box office - 20 Euros (single ticket for visiting the Doge's Palace, Correra Museum, Archaeological Museum and the Marchian National Library)
Marciana Library
After the Venetian Republic received 750 manuscripts from Cardinal Vissarion in 1469, a decision was made to build a library.
Today the National Library of St. Mark is one of the largest repositories of classical texts in the world and one of the oldest collections of manuscripts in Italy.
The Marcian Library Fund has about 13 thousand hand-written documents and twice as many 16th-century books published at the dawn of book printing. At the end of the XVIII-beginning of the XIX century, the library collection was replenished with books from monasteries, including those closed by Napoleon.
A very valuable collection of ancient manuscripts is stored in the library.
Here are the codes of the Gonzago family, the will of Marco Polo, sheet music of sonatas Domenico Scarlatti and other treasures. The Marchiana Library was one of the first libraries in the world to receive a copy of every book printed in Venice - under 1603 law.
The building of the library was designed and started to be built in 1537 by Jacopo Sansovino, completed the construction after a couple of decades, Vincenzo Scamozzi. The design was attended by artists Salviati, Meldolla, Veronese.
Opening hours:
- November to March: 10: 00-17: 00
- April to October: 10: 00-19: 00
The library is closed on December 25 and January 1.
Tickets: Adult at the box office - 20 Euros (single ticket for visiting the Doge's Palace, Correra Museum, Archaeological Museum and the Marchian National Library)
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- How to get from Venice to Florence
Photos by: Andy L, Sergey Galyonkin, Maria Schnitzmeier, Mikestravelguide.com, Robert Young, Edward Reynolds, pixabay.com, Lisa.
