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Art, History and Culture in Venice The Best Museums and Galleries in the City

Art, History and Culture in Venice

The Best Museums and Galleries in the City

The Gallerie dell'Accademia is the greatest collection of Venetian painting in the world and one of the most important art museums in Italy. Housed in a complex of former religious buildings in the Dorsoduro sestiere, the collection traces the full sweep of Venetian painting from the 14th century to the 18th, with masterpieces by Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and Tiepolo representing the extraordinary tradition of Venetian colorism and light at its very finest. The sheer concentration of outstanding works is overwhelming, and multiple visits are needed to do the collection justice. Booking timed entry tickets online in advance is strongly recommended.

Calle della Carità, 1050, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy

Palazzo Grassi is one of the grandest and most impressive contemporary art venues in Venice, a magnificent 18th-century palace on the Grand Canal owned by the French collector François Pinault and dedicated to the presentation of his extraordinary contemporary art collection alongside major temporary exhibitions. The palace's beautifully restored neoclassical interior provides a spectacular setting for large-scale contemporary art installations and works by some of the most significant artists working today. Together with the Punta della Dogana, Palazzo Grassi forms the most ambitious and impressive contemporary art presence in Venice.

Campo San Samuele, 3231, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

The Punta della Dogana, the former customs house at the tip of the Dorsoduro peninsula where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, is one of the most dramatically situated contemporary art spaces in the world. Also owned by François Pinault and presenting works from his extraordinary collection, the building was spectacularly renovated by architect Tadao Ando and now houses some of the most ambitious and thought-provoking contemporary art installations in Venice. The building's extraordinary location, with views across to San Giorgio Maggiore, the Giudecca, and the entrance to the Grand Canal, makes it as much an architectural and spatial experience as an artistic one.

The Venice Biennale, held in odd-numbered years for the art exhibition and even-numbered years for the architecture exhibition, is the oldest and most prestigious international art event in the world and transforms Venice into the global capital of contemporary art for the duration of each edition. The national pavilions in the Giardini della Biennale and the Arsenale are the heart of the exhibition, with countries from across the world presenting specially commissioned works by their most significant contemporary artists. Even outside of Biennale years, the Giardini pavilions are architecturally fascinating to explore and the Arsenale is one of the most extraordinary industrial spaces in Europe.

 Viale Giardini Pubblici, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal in Dorsoduro is one of the most important collections of modern art in Europe and one of the most enjoyable and beautifully presented museum experiences in Venice. Housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, the unfinished palace that was the Venetian home of the legendary American collector Peggy Guggenheim, the collection spans the full range of 20th-century modernism, from Cubism and Futurism to Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, with major works by Picasso, Mondrian, Dalí, Pollock, Rothko, and many others. The sculpture garden overlooking the Grand Canal is one of the most beautiful outdoor art spaces in Italy.

The Fondazione Querini Stampalia is one of Venice's most charming and intimate cultural institutions, housed in a beautiful Gothic palace in the Castello sestiere that was left to the city by the last member of the noble Querini Stampalia family in the 19th century. The museum on the upper floors preserves the family's extraordinary collection of Venetian paintings, furniture, and decorative arts in their original domestic setting, while the ground floor features a remarkable architectural intervention by Carlo Scarpa and a contemporary gallery space that presents changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The library and the garden are also beautiful and well worth exploring.

Campiello Santa Maria Formosa, 5252, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

The Museo di Palazzo Fortuny is one of the most atmospheric and extraordinary museum spaces in Venice, the former home and studio of the Spanish-born polymath Mariano Fortuny, who lived and worked in the city from the late 19th century until his death in 1949 and created some of the most beautiful textiles, garments, and photographic work of his era. The palace, preserved almost exactly as Fortuny left it, is a fascinating and deeply personal space crammed with his extraordinary collection of objects, fabrics, costumes, and artworks from across the world. The museum also hosts major temporary exhibitions that use the palazzo's unique atmosphere to outstanding effect.

Fondamenta Narisi, 3958, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

8. Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro

The Ca' d'Oro, or House of Gold, is one of the most beautiful Gothic palaces on the Grand Canal and houses the extraordinary art collection assembled by the baron Giorgio Franchetti in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection is centered around Andrea Mantegna's magnificent Saint Sebastian, one of the great masterpieces of Italian Renaissance painting, alongside outstanding Venetian bronzes, Flemish tapestries, and a remarkable collection of decorative arts. The building itself, with its intricate Gothic loggia overlooking the Grand Canal, is one of the most beautiful architectural spaces in Venice and the view from the upper loggia is extraordinary.

Calle Ca' d'Oro, 3934, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, just across the water from the Piazza San Marco, is one of the most beautiful and culturally significant cultural institutions in Venice, housed within the extraordinary monastery complex attached to the magnificent Palladian church of San Giorgio Maggiore. The foundation hosts world-class exhibitions, concerts, and cultural events in its beautifully restored cloisters, refectories, and library spaces, and the island itself is one of the most serene and architecturally extraordinary destinations in the entire lagoon. The library, the dormitories, and the gardens of the monastery are among the finest spaces in Venice.

30133 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy

10. Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova - Magazzino del Sale

The Magazzini del Sale on the Zattere waterfront in Dorsoduro are a series of converted medieval salt warehouses that now house the extraordinary archive and collection of the Venetian abstract painter Emilio Vedova, one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century. The Fondazione Vedova presents the collection in a remarkable installation designed by Renzo Piano, with a system of automated robotic arms that retrieves and displays the large-format canvases from their storage racks in real time, creating one of the most technically innovative and visually dramatic gallery experiences in the city. A genuinely unmissable contemporary art experience in an extraordinary Venetian setting.

The Museo Correr occupies the magnificent Napoleonic Wing and Procuratie Nuove buildings at the western end of Piazza San Marco, and together with the Doge's Palace forms the most comprehensive introduction to Venetian history and art available anywhere in the city. The museum's vast collection covers the full sweep of Venetian civilization, from medieval maps and coins to Renaissance paintings, Venetian glassware, antique globes, and an extraordinary collection of Venetian state portraits. The museum is included in the combined Piazza San Marco ticket and is often less crowded than the Doge's Palace despite being equally rewarding.

P.za San Marco, 52, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

12. Ca' Rezzonico - Museum of 18th Century Venice

The Ca' Rezzonico is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable museums in Venice, housed in a magnificent Grand Canal palace and dedicated entirely to the art, decorative arts, and social life of 18th-century Venice. The collection includes extraordinary frescoed ceilings by Giambattista Tiepolo, a remarkable collection of furniture and lacquerwork, Venetian paintings by Pietro Longhi and Canaletto, and a series of beautifully restored period rooms that recreate the opulent domestic life of the Venetian nobility at the height of the republic.

Sestiere Dorsoduro, 3136, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy

13. Ca' Pesaro - International Gallery of Modern Art

The Ca' Pesaro is a magnificent Baroque palace on the Grand Canal in the Santa Croce sestiere that houses two outstanding museum collections. The International Gallery of Modern Art on the upper floors holds an impressive collection of 19th and 20th-century Italian and international art, including works acquired from the Venice Biennale over many decades. The lower floors house the Museum of Oriental Art, one of the most significant collections of Asian decorative arts and objects in Italy. Together the two collections make Ca' Pesaro one of the most rewarding and eclectic museum experiences in the city.

C. del Tentor, 2076, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy

The Museo di Palazzo Grimani is one of Venice's most beautiful and least visited museums, a Renaissance palace in the Castello sestiere whose extraordinary interior decoration, including spectacular Roman sculpture and Flemish tapestries collected by the noble Grimani family in the 16th century, represents one of the finest surviving examples of a Renaissance patrician interior anywhere in Italy. The palace was designed to display the Grimani collection in a setting of theatrical magnificence, and the combination of the architecture, the decoration, and the remarkable objects within creates an experience of rare and deeply affecting beauty.

Rugagiuffa, 4858, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

The Doge's Palace is the most magnificent and historically significant museum in Venice, the former seat of Venetian government and one of the greatest Gothic buildings in the world. The palace served as the residence of the Doge, the supreme magistrate of the Venetian Republic, and as the center of political, judicial, and administrative power for over a thousand years. The extraordinary sequence of state rooms, including the vast Sala del Maggior Consiglio with its ceiling painting by Tintoretto, the Bridge of Sighs, the prisons, and the armory, offer an unparalleled insight into the power, ambition, and artistic splendor of the Serenissima. Booking tickets online in advance is strongly recommended.

P.za San Marco, 1, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

16. Natural History Museum of Venice (Museo di Storia Naturale)

The Natural History Museum of Venice, housed in the magnificent Fontego dei Turchi building on the Grand Canal in the Santa Croce sestiere, is one of the most enjoyable and undervisited museums in the city. The collection covers an extraordinary range of natural history subjects, from dinosaur fossils discovered in the Sahara to the rich marine biodiversity of the Venice lagoon, presented with genuine imagination and educational ambition. The building itself, one of the oldest on the Grand Canal, is extraordinary, and the combination of fascinating natural history content and a spectacular architectural setting makes this museum a genuinely rewarding and unexpected discovery for visitors of all ages.

Salizada del Fontego dei Turchi, 1730, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy

The Museum of Glass on the island of Murano is an essential destination for anyone interested in the extraordinary tradition of Venetian glassmaking that has been practiced on the island since the 13th century. The museum traces the full history of Murano glass from its ancient origins through the Renaissance masterpieces of filigree and millefiori work to the bold contemporary designs of the 20th century, all displayed in the beautiful rooms of the Palazzo Giustinian on Murano's main canal. The surrounding island of Murano, with its working glass furnaces, showrooms, and quieter residential canals, is well worth exploring before or after the museum visit.

Fondamenta Marco Giustinian, 8, 30141 Venezia VE, Italy

The Museum of Lace on the island of Burano is a charming and fascinating museum dedicated to the extraordinary tradition of Venetian needle lace that was for centuries one of the most prized luxury textiles in the world. The museum displays a remarkable collection of historic lace pieces alongside demonstrations of the intricate and painstaking techniques involved in their creation, and the island of Burano itself, with its famously colorful painted houses and its working lace-makers, provides a wonderful and photogenic setting for the visit.

P.za Baldassarre Galuppi, 187, 30142 Venezia VE, Italy

19. Museo Ebraico - Jewish Museum of Venice

The Jewish Museum of Venice in the historic Ghetto of Cannaregio is a small but deeply significant and moving museum dedicated to the history and culture of Venice's Jewish community, one of the oldest and most historically important in Europe. The museum contains a remarkable collection of Jewish ceremonial objects, textiles, and historical documents alongside a programme of guided tours that include visits to the beautifully preserved historic synagogues of the Ghetto. The surrounding Ghetto Nuovo square, the oldest Jewish ghetto in the world, is one of the most atmospheric and historically resonant spaces in the entire city.

Campo di Ghetto Nuovo, 2902, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy

The Musei Civici di Venezia is the civic museum network of Venice, overseeing a remarkable collection of eleven museums spread across the city and its lagoon islands, including the Doge's Palace, the Museo Correr, the Ca' Rezzonico, the Ca' Pesaro, the Natural History Museum, and the Museo del Vetro on Murano. A combined Museum Pass gives access to all of the civic museums and represents outstanding value for visitors planning to explore more than two or three of the network's institutions. The breadth and quality of the civic museum collection is extraordinary and provides the most comprehensive introduction to Venetian history, art, and decorative culture available anywhere in the city.

 P.za San Marco, 52, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

21. Museo Storico Navale - Naval History Museum

The Naval History Museum near the Arsenale in the Castello sestiere is one of the most comprehensive and impressive maritime museums in Italy, housing an extraordinary collection of ship models, navigational instruments, naval weapons, figureheads, and historical documents that traces the full history of Venetian naval power from the glory days of the republic to the modern era. An essential visit for anyone interested in Venice's extraordinary maritime heritage.

Riva S. Biasio, 2148, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

Museo Storico Navale - Naval History Museum

Venice's museums and galleries are best explored over several days, and having a comfortable and well-located base makes the difference between an exhausting visit and a truly rewarding one. We recommend booking your Venice accommodation through 

, where you will find a wide range of properties across every Venice neighborhood and budget, genuine guest reviews, competitive rates, and the Hotels.com Rewards program that earns you a free night for every 10 nights booked.

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