New itinerary at the Museo Correr in Venice

Visit only upon prior booking, with specialized guide, for a maximum of 10 people. Languages: Italian, English, French.
Information and Bookings at the Museo Correr Ticket Office Desk.

The Royal Palace, one of Venice’s most exceptional and representative centres of 19th-century political and cultural history, is being returned to the city, thus restoring the Marciana area to its original identity. After long and meticulous restoration work, on 15 July 2022 the public will be able to visit twenty rooms of Venice’s Royal Palace located inside the Museo Correr. Throughout the 19th century and up until 1920 these were the original private apartments of the members of three ruling dynasties: the House of Bonaparte, Habsburg and Savoy.

The restoration marks the completion of work begun in 2000, based on a scientific project directed by Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia and the Venice City Council, supported by the Superintendency and with the invaluable contribution of the French Committee for the Preservation of Venice and patrons from around the world.
The renovated rooms are all decorated, and for the most part sumptuously adorned with tapestries reproduced in the original designs. Moreover, after a succession of complications and relocations, the original furniture from the Royal Palace has finally returned to take its proper place.

Already distinguished by its Doge’s Palace, Venice’s second and equally magnificent Royal Palace is located a mere stone’s throw away. The palace was the residence of the three successive dynasties that ruled Venice after the fall of the Serenissima Republic: the House of Bonaparte, Hapsburg and, lastly, Savoy. Each of the occupants resided in Venice in their own apartment, modelled and furnished to suit their personal preferences and the fashion of the day. The result is a cross-section of art history and costume history from the early 19th century to the 1920s. The Royal Apartments occupy the north side of the piano nobile [first floor] in the Procuratie Antiche, overlooking the Royal Gardens and St. Mark’s Basin. The rooms run parallel to the Museo Correr exhibition rooms, which in their turn overlook Piazza San Marco.

The large, elegant rooms extend over approximately 850 square metres, each one expressing the taste of the guests who lived there in each period. The decorations and furniture reflect the status of the crowned heads who enjoyed short or prolonged visits to the city. From Napoleon to Franz Joseph and Empress Sissi; from Maximilian of Habsburg, Emperor of Mexico, to Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, and, last of all, to Umberto I: Italian and European history passed through these rooms.
Once the days of kings and emperors were over, the rooms became offices and archives for use by the state and its officials, which inevitably led to the removal of most of the existing decorations and furnishings.

Work began in 2000 with the restoration of the large state apartments – already part of the Museo Correr – as well as the portico that gives access to the Royal Palace and St. Mark’s Square, the Monumental Staircase, the Vestibule of Honour, the Ballroom and the ceiling of the Throne Room.

In the second phase (2006–2012), work was carried out on the apartments of Empress Sissi and, immediately afterwards, on several rooms in the apartment of Maximilian of Habsburg, Emperor of Mexico. The third restoration campaign (2013–2014) involved the rooms and sumptuous furnishings of the Emperor’s Cabinet Study, the Audience Room, the Chamberlains’ Room and King Umberto’s salon.

In 2015–2016, the ‘Sublime Canova’ project was devised by MUVE director Gabriella Belli in order to give due prominence to the Correr’s magnificent Canova collections, consummately presented in three rooms, two of which are in the Royal Palace.The restoration was supported by the French Committee for the Preservation of Venice and the Venice International Foundation.
The final stage of the palace’s renovation was the recently completed work on the apartments of Maximilian and the Kings of Italy.

Each phase of the restoration process has been meticulously executed: no detail has been overlooked, starting from the original upholstery, which, like the cabinetmaking, was executed by Venetian craftsmen who were able to create fabrics and furnishings the equal of any made by major international manufacturers.
A heritage of the best Venetian craftsmanship that continues the great tradition of the arts still present in the lagoon area today.

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Visit of the new itineray only upon prior booking, with specialized guide, for a maximum of 10 people. Languages: Italian, English, French.

Information and Bookings at the Museo Correr Ticket Office Desk

Visits in Italian/English:
h 10.30, 11.00, 12.30, 13.00, 14.30, 15.00

Visits in French/English:
h 11.30, 13.30, 15.30

Visite in French/Italian:
h 12.00, 14.00, 16.00

Photo © Massimo Listri