Courting Casanova
A museum is opening in the Venetian hometown of the 18th-century adventurer, Giacomo Casanova, in hopes of revitalizing his image to those in attendance beyond the notion that he was solely a notorious womanizer.
Courting Casanova
A museum is opening in the Venetian hometown of the 18th-century adventurer, Giacomo Casanova, in hopes of revitalizing his image as a notorious womanizer.
This is not to say that the Giacomo Casanova Museum and Experience hides Casanova’s romantic exploits. In fact, it includes a bedroom containing a shadow installation that depicts a scene of Casanova seducing a woman and visitors become the onlookers. Curators are seeking to shed light on other aspects of the Venetian scholar and writer whose memoir, "History of My Life," provides one of the best chronicles of European high society of the late 18th century.
For those unfamiliar with who Giacomo Girolamo Casanova is, he is best known as an Italian adventurer and author from Venice and his autobiography, Histoire De Ma Vie. Casanova used many names including Baron (or Count) of Farussi or "Chevalier de Seingalt" and often signed his works "Jacques Casanova de Seingalt" after he began writing in French due to his exile from Venice. He has become so famous for his many affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer".
Museum director, Andrea Cosentino, stated "We want this character, this person, to be known in his entirety... Here we give the basis of what he was, not only as a lover but also as a man, philosopher and scholar." Using the power of virtual reality technology, museum goers are able to journey across Casanova's youth, his travels across Europe, his arrests, escapes, personality, and accomplishments.
The museum is now open to visitors after it’s grand opening on April 2nd (Casanova's birthday) in the Palazzo Pesaro Papafava in Venice. For more information, visit the installation's official page HERE.
Do you wish to be able to explore the life of Courting Casanova in his native country of Italy? Our culturally immersive group classes and native instructors can help make the experience even more fulfilling by putting you on the path to fluency faster than you may think! Click below to learn more!
The Hidden Gems of Italy
There is a way to get in on an exclusive Italian experience once every year, so before you spend all of your hard earned money on that ticket to Italy, read on...
The Hidden Gems of Italy
If you had to make a list of places you visit every time you make a destination trip, would you happen to include a museum? If the answer is yes, you’re not alone, especially in Italy. Italian state museum revenues increased by almost 50 million euros between 2013-2016 and has seen an increased visitor rate of almost 19%. With the vast exhibitions, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, however it does mean that museums can be increasingly difficult to peruse without feeling like you’re standing cheek to cheek with strangers on the NYC transit system (which is your favorite pastime, right?).
There is, however, a way to get in on a more exclusive experience once every year, so before you spend all of your hard earned money on that ticket to Italy, read on.
The Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) or National Trust of Italy hosts an annual “Spring Days” event in March that opens up many hidden gems of Italy including: buildings, villages, and gardens to visitors that are usually closed to the public.
This event includes 1,000 sites in 400 towns.
Among these, the art schedule includes 260 buildings and villas, 51 villages, 79 castles and towers, 90 small museums, 40 parks and natural areas, 20 archaeological areas, 7 military establishments and 20 academies, schools, and institutions, 16 industrial and business museums, 14 theaters and amphitheaters, 8 cemeteries, and 2 former psychiatric hospitals.
Arguably one of the most impressive hidden gems of Italy is the Brisighella Convent, which is so large that the nuns use scooters to get around. This alone is reason enough to start booking that trip.
To see the full list of the true hidden gems of Italy, feel free to check out the official FAI website here. This website is in Italian, however, so it would be recommended to have a translator handy! If you would like to be able to make your trip sans translator, there's no better accompaniment to experiencing these hidden gems than with your knowledge of Italian! Grazie!