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Museums and Galleries

Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Unfortunately for the visitor, nearly all of Venice's museums and galleries are worth the time. Just be glad Napoleon's agents nicked everything that wasn't nailed down, or your must-sees would be much, much worse. Save money by investing in a Museum pass.

If you only have time for a few, you might want to concentrate on the uniquely Venetian ones: the Accademia, that great repository of Venetian masterpieces; the Museo Correr, Venice's attic; St Mark's Museum, to see the original bronze horses up close; the Naval History Museum, dedicated to the seafaring traditions of a great seafaring city; the Fondazione Querini-Stampalia, especially for its charming collection of Venetian genre paintings by Longhi and Bella; the Glass Museum on Murano, for insights into one of Venice's greatest industries; and the Ca' Rezzonico, dedicated to the Serene Republic's long 18th-century farewell party.

Basilica di San Marco: Museum

and the famous horses

Basilica di San Marco: Treasury

Byzantine beauty

Ca' d'Oro/Franchetti Gallery

Venice's golden house

Ca' Pesaro

With the Museums of Modern and Oriental Art

Ca' Rezzonico

Museo del Settecento

Ca' Vendramin-Calergi

The Casino and Museo Wagner

Casa di Carlo Goldoni

The home of the King of Comedy

Casa Museo Andrich

Dreamy idyll on Torcello

Dogana di Mare (Punta della Dogana)

Venice's customs house, now filled with contemporary art

Farmacia Storica

and the Museo Anatomia Patologica

Fondaco dei Turchi

Venice's Natural History Museum

Fondazione Giorgio Cini

In the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore

Fondazione Querini-Stampalia

Palace of art

Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderno

19th and 20th century art, in Cà Pesaro

Gallerie dell'Accademia

Venice's treasure house of art

The Best of Venice's Museums

Some Not to Miss

Magazzini del Sale (Salt Warehouses)

Now the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova

Museo Archeologico Nazionale

Ancient treasures

Museo Comunità Ebraica

Venice's Jewish museum

Museo Correr

Venice's attic

Museo d'Arte Orientale

Japanese art of the Edo period, and much much more

Museo del Merletto

The lace museum

Museo del Vetro

Murano's glass museum

Museo delle Icone

The Museum of Byzantine Icons

Museo di Storia Naturale

The Natural History Museum

Museo di Torcello

Small but sweet

Museo Diocesano Sant' Apollonia

John Paul I's Venetian legacy

Museo Storico Navale

Naval History Museum

Palazzo Cini: La Galleria

The gallery of the Istituto di Storia dell’Arte

Palazzo Fortuny

Former home of designer Mariano Fortuny

Palazzo Grassi

Neoclassical Palace of Contemporary Art

Museo di Palazzo Grimani

A little bit of Renaissance Rome in Venice

Palazzo Mocenigo

Fancy interiors, costumes and perfumes

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Pure delight

La Pietà

Vivaldi's church and museum

San Maurizio

Now a Museum of Music

San Pietro Martire

Murano’s arty church and museum

San Servolo

The 'Island of the Mad', now a museum and University

Santi Cosma e Damiano

Now home to the Luigi Nono Archives

Scuola Grande di San Marco

And its historical medical museum and library

Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls

Image by Graeme Churchard