An itinerary exploring Casanova’s life, places and relationships, presented with historical accuracy and immersive experience. Each room offers a thematic perspective, combining documents, period objects and installations that invite you into his world.
The Casanova Museum is housed in Palazzo Zaguri, a historic Venetian residence dating back to the 13th century. Located in the sestiere of San Marco, the palace still preserves architectural elements that reflect the different stages of its history: remodeled Gothic facades, decorated rooms, wooden ceilings, and traces of the restorations that guided its rebirth.
A place that tells the story of Venice and the families who inhabited it, becoming the ideal setting to reconstruct Casanova’s world through documents, objects and thematic paths.
The son of actors, he grew up in a lively and cosmopolitan Venice, surrounded by theaters, workshops and patrician courts. After a childhood spent between the city and his grandmother’s house, he embarked on a course of studies that took him to Padua, Rome and Naples, studying under teachers, mentors and a wide range of disciplines: law, philosophy, science, literature.
Documents, maps and period accounts illustrate the development of a curious young man who found in knowledge and travel the keys to understanding the world of his time.
This part of the exhibition explores the years when Casanova broke free from convention and navigated a world of power, diplomacy and adventure. His rise under the guidance of influential mentors, his escape from Venice’s Piombi prison and his extensive travels to the courts of Europe reveal a man who moved effortlessly through political, cultural and scientific circles. These rooms explore his encounters with leading figures of the eighteenth century, his relationships with women and the theatres for which he wrote.
The last part of the journey explores Casanova’s final years and the transformation of his figure into myth. Dux, where he spends his final years as a librarian, became the place where he reorganised his writings, ideas and memories. The letters and Histoire de ma vie reveal his lucidity, irony and historical awareness. The following rooms deal with the end of his world, the fall of the Serenissima Republic, and the cultural legacy that inspired cinema, literature, and art. The journey concludes with an interactive experience inviting visitors to reflect on their own image of Casanova.
The main floor is entirely devoted to the world that shaped Casanova’s eighteenth century. Here, ensembles and performers bring the sound of his era to life: from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, composed in the year of Casanova’s birth, to the arias of Mozart and Da Ponte, central figures of the theatrical world of Venice that Casanova frequented. Original instruments, scores, projections and sound installations recreate the settings, ballrooms and theaters of the city, offering visitors an immersive listening experience.
