Museo della Musica

My daughter next to the last violin Vivaldi owned

My daughters and I play the violin and we have enjoyed playing many pieces composed by Antonio Vivaldi. He was born in Venice in 1678 and spent most of his life there. The Museum of Music in Venice houses the last violin that Vivaldi owned, and his only violin that is still being played today. Members of the orchestra in Venice perform with this violin on occasion. There are a lot of other historical instruments and information in the museum, but this violin was the highlight for my daughter and I when we visited the museum.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. except for when they are closed for lunch from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The museum is located inside the church of San Maurizio. For 5 euro you can purchase the audio guide to tour the museum. The museum's official website is here: Museo della Musica You can make a reservation, or just arrive at the museum and pay for your audio guide then.

The museum is a short walk from St. Mark's Square. Its google maps location is here: Music Museum

The church of San Maurizio in Venice where the museum is housed

The entrance to the music museum

The last violin Vivaldi ever owned

Palazzo Ducale

My most recent trip to Venice was in March of 2025. My daughter and I went on the Secret Itineraries tour, which I highly recommend. The Doge's Palace is open from 9 in the morning until 5 or 6 at night, depending on if you visit in the summer or winter. Their official website is here: Doge's Palace

Prices vary depending on what you want to do. The Secret Itineraries Tour, which we went on, is offered in Italian, English, and French. It costs 32 euro for an adult ticket. You can purchase a Museum Pass for 40 euro that allows you into several different museums over the course of six months. There are other ticket combinations that you can buy, depending on what you want to see. I really enjoyed the Secret Itineraries Tour and would do it again. It was very interesting to hear about Casanova and his famous escape in 1756. Walking across the Bridge of Sighs was another highlight for me. It is named because the bridge connects the Doge's Palace to the new prisons, and supposedly prisoners would sigh as they took one last look of Venice before being led to prison. The current Doge's Palace is over 600 years old, although the palace site dates back to the 9th century. A doge is the chief magistrate of Venice. The most famous doge is probably the 55th one, whose portrait was blacked out after he was beheaded for trying to overthrow the government. His name was Marin Falier and he was killed in 1355.

The Doge's Palace is located on St. Mark's Square. Its google maps location is here: Palazzo Ducale