Museo Provinciale di Torcello

The Provincial Museum of Torcello is a museum founded at the end of 19th century on the Venetian island of Torcello. It has two sections: the Archaeological Section and the Medieval and Modern Section.

In 1870 Luigi Torelli, the prefect of Venice, purchased the Palazzo del Consiglio to house a centre of archaeological artefacts found in Torcello, its adjacent islands and the nearby mainland. In 1872 after Torelli had given the building to the Province of Venice, the Museum was founded, assigning the direction to the researcher Nicolò Battaglini. In 1887 Cesare Augusto Levi took his place: he continued the collection from the area and added others which he gathered during his travels, especially in Rome. In 1887 he bought the Palazzo dell’Archivio, restored it and moved the archaeological collection there, naming it Museo dell’Estuario, donating it to the provincial authorities. On May 14th, 1889, the Museo Provinciale di Torcello was inaugurated. In 1909 Levi was succeeded by Luigi Conton who discovered various necropolis in Adria from where he probably brought some findings to Torcello. Between 1928 and 1930 the collections were rearranged under the management of Adolfo Callegari, the director until 1948. In his period, inventory, cataloguing and restoration were undertaken, including the publication, in 1930, of the catalogue Il museo di Torcello.

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