The Vivaldi-era collection
Original stringed instruments from Vivaldi's century, including work from the Amati and Guadagnini workshops.
Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Didier Descouens — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andrzej Otrębski — CC BY-SA 4.0 · mapconcierge — CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes, entry is free with no ticket and no booking, and it has nothing to do with the civic museum pass or the Doge's Palace ticket. The only paid item inside is the EUR 5 audio guide, which is worth it because the written labels are sparse. The tickets offered at the door are for concerts in the neighbouring church of San Vidal and are not needed to walk in. Just time your visit around the 13:00 to 14:30 lunch closure.
No. On two days, spend the time on the Gallerie dell'Accademia, the Frari, or simply getting lost in Cannaregio. This museum is a gift to whoever walks past it between the Accademia bridge and San Marco, not a stop to plan around. Twenty free minutes en route is excellent value; a dedicated trip across the city on two vaporetto tickets is not.
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San Maurizio has not been a working church for a long time. Under its neoclassical vault stand glass cases holding violins, cellos, lutes and viols, mostly from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several from the workshops of significant Italian makers such as Amati and Guadagnini. The collection is titled «Antonio Vivaldi and his time», which earns its place here: Vivaldi was Venetian, and taught music to the girls of the city's foundling hospital. Entry is completely free, which in a city that charges for every threshold counts as news. Do not expect a museum in the usual sense. It is one room, the visit is over in twenty minutes, and the wall labels are thin unless you take the five-euro audio guide. Note too that it shuts for lunch, from 13:00 to 14:30. What compensates is the building: the church was rebuilt in neoclassical form from 1806, and the high altar, the organ and the pulpit are all still in place. A fair number of visitors leave more impressed by the church than by the instruments. The place is run by the Interpreti Veneziani ensemble, so a desk at the door will offer you tickets to their evening Baroque concerts. Note the distinction: those concerts take place in the nearby church of San Vidal, not in this room, and the ticket is entirely separate at around thirty euros (twenty-five reduced) bought direct, and more through resale sites. The museum is free, the concert is not, and neither is included in the city museum passes or the Doge's Palace and Correr ticket. It sits on Campo San Maurizio, on the natural walking line between the Accademia bridge and Piazza San Marco, so step in if you are passing: five quiet, shaded minutes after the crush of the square. Crossing the city specifically for it is not worth the trip. The church floor is level with no internal steps, though getting there means bridges with steps that punish pushchairs and wheelchairs. And remember where the real money goes in Venice: a single vaporetto ride is EUR 9.50 for seventy-five minutes, and the day-visitor access fee applies on set dates from early April to late July (sixty days in the 2026 season) at EUR 5 booked more than four days ahead, EUR 10 if not.
Original stringed instruments from Vivaldi's century, including work from the Amati and Guadagnini workshops.
Rebuilt in neoclassical form from 1806, it keeps its high altar, organ and pulpit, and usually lingers in the memory longer than the display cases.
Twenty quiet, shaded minutes a few minutes from the piazza, with no ticket and no queue.
Chiesa di San Maurizio, Campo San Maurizio, San Marco, 30124 Venice