The Correr Museum is a museum complex located in Piazza San Marco and which allows you to take a trip to Napoleonic Venice to discover the rooms of Venetian civilization.
It is no coincidence that the Correr Museum is one of the must-see museums in Venice, a stone's throw from the Doge's Palace and the Marciana National Library , passing through the National Archaeological Museum. The museum complex represents one of the major cultural institutions which brings together one of the most important and rich collections in the city. Without a doubt, one of the things to see in Venice if you decide to spend a few days in the lagoon.
To reach the Correr Museum, just turn your back to the Basilica and find the main entrance in the Napoleonic Wing to begin the visit. What you will find inside is not a traditional museum, but a real leap back in time and, room after room, you will discover the history of Venetian civilisation.
The history of the Correr Museum
The museum belongs to the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia and is housed in the so-called Napoleonic Wing and partly in the Procuratie Nuove building. It takes its name from the noble Teodoro Correr who at the time of his death donated a valuable art collection to the city, such as to have given life to the first nucleus of the collection. The complex also includes the National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Hall of the Marciana Library and allows a reconstruction of the history of the Serenissima which goes from Ancient Egypt to the nineteenth century.
The museum also tells the story of Venice's glorious past as a center of trade and culture, with sections dedicated to the social and political life of the Republic and its naval ingenuity. The building was designed at the time when Napoleon was king of the Italian Kingdom with the aim of expanding the palace that was supposed to house his court, even if the rooms ended up hosting another court, the Habsburg one.
Inside you will find rooms decorated in the style of the early nineteenth century , and you will seem to hear the steps of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth, better known as Sissi, while they dance in the ballroom or their voices while talking in the studies, in the rooms and boudoirs. All it takes is a pinch of imagination and you will really feel like you are in nineteenth-century Venice at the king's court.
The rooms of Empress Elizabeth
The Habsburg spaces were set up for Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth who lived there between the autumn of 1861 and the spring of 1962.
These rooms are often intimate, dedicated to the Queen's private life and audiences. The neoclassical decor of these rooms is complemented by period furniture and refined upholstery. You will be able to see the bathroom and anteroom of the Apartments as well as the fantastic Boudoir, characterized by soft colours, floral motifs, stuccos and many other sophisticated decorations.
The Neoclassical rooms: discovering Canova
The magic of the Correr Museum does not end with the rooms alone but extends to works of art such as those found in the Neoclassical Rooms: Daedalus and Icarus, Orpheus and Eurydice and Venus Italica are the absolute marble protagonists of this section of the museum, a 'apotheosis of sinuous lines and realism capable of bringing the myth to life. From here you move on to the splendid ballroom, richly decorated with stuccos and frescoes that refer to the Gods of Olympus.
Venetian Civilization
In this part of the museum, before reaching the Marciana Monumental Library, you will find objects and paintings that tell the story of Venetian civilisation. Here it is possible to retrace the history of the Serenissima , one of the most important Republics in Europe: the history of a grandiose city, which saw battles, Doges but also festivals and art, taste and luxury.
Finally, the National Archaeological Museum and the Library will serve as a crowning moment for the visit to the Correr Museum thanks to the collection of historical artefacts and the decorations of the vault of the Library created by the expert hands of Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto.
Visit Venice and the Correr Museum
To discover Venice, its museums and its beauties, perhaps a lifetime is not enough and this is why visitors who want to fully understand the charm of the city must think about staying there for at least a weekend. Doing it while saving money is not difficult: just book an apartment online to enjoy the advantages of a short-term rental and visit the city without stress.
