ETRUSCHI E VENETI. Acque, culti e santuari
Palazzo Ducale
P.za San Marco, 1, VE 30124
09:00 - 18:00
Admission
€13.00 general admission; €9.00 reduced; €5.00 school groups
Free admission for children 0-5, disabled persons with guide, MUVE Friend Card holders, Museum Pass holders, tourist guides, members of Amici dei Musei e Monumenti Veneziani, accompanying teachers (max 2 per group), ICOM members. Reduced tickets available for children 6-16, students 17-25, over 65, and various card holders. Combined ticket available with St. Mark's Square Museums (Doge's Palace, Correr Museum, National Archaeological Museum, Marciana Library).
About
The new exhibition Etruschi e Veneti. Acque, culti e santuari, hosted in the rooms of the Doge's Apartment at the Doge's Palace from 6 March to 29 September 2026, takes as its starting point the concept of the sacred in the Etruscan world, examining the many forms and expressions of worship connected with water. Seas, rivers, lakes and springs emerge as the preferred locations for the construction of sanctuaries dedicated to water cults. The section devoted to the Etruscans begins with the sanctuaries of the Tyrrhenian ports of Vulci and Pyrgi, continues with the sanctuaries of healing waters at Chiusi, Chianciano and San Casciano dei Bagni, and includes the small yet monumental sanctuary of Marzabotto, built in the heart of Etruria Padana in correspondence with a natural spring. The Etruscan section concludes with artefacts from Adria and Spina, the most important ports of the northern Adriatic, where the presence of places of worship is not attested by monumental structures but solely by epigraphic and archaeological evidence. The exhibition itinerary then moves into the territory of the ancient Veneti. The theme of the sacred in the local context and its relationship with water is introduced through materials that guide visitors into the religious sphere of the Veneti: San Pietro in Montagnon, present-day Montegrotto, closely associated with the healing power of thermal waters; the Dolomite sanctuary of Lagole di Calalzo, linked to springs believed to possess therapeutic properties; and the sanctuary of Este, located along a branch of the Adige River and dedicated to Reitia, the river goddess. The final stop of the exhibition is the lagoon sanctuary of Altino, a port facing Adriatic and Mediterranean routes that functioned as an international maritime outpost for the Veneti people, where distinctive rituals developed through the integration of foreigners. At the end of the exhibition, visitors encounter the new installation We Are Bodies of Water, created by Fondazione Bonotto in scientific collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue, dedicated to the fragile Venetian lagoon ecosystem, a bridge between past and present.