Museums Riva San Vitale Switzerland - Attractions

The Museum of Musical Instruments, in the Castello Sforzesco, conserves approximately 650 pieces and a vast exotic grouping from outside of Europe. The Museum is concerned with the production of musical instruments from 1500 to 1800. The first section is dedicated to cord instruments, even though it includes antique 700s "spinettes" as well. Then there are the bow instruments with the standing viola and the "viole d'amore" (viola of love) (so named for the double number of cords that vibrate pleasantly), guitars, mandarins, prestigious 600s lutes from Cremona. Then there is a vast selection of wind instruments and the last section dedicated to popular music with examples of African and Asian instruments. Throughout the Museum are keyboard instruments that do not yet have a definitive location. Of special interest are the lutes represented by pieces from Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari and small pocket-sized violins called "pochettes", among which an example from the 500s.

Located in downtown Milan, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum expresses the taste and life style of a wealthy, cultured, aristocratic Milanese family at the end of the 19th century, and is one of Europe's most important historic house museums. Here, the precious permanent collections of 15th-16th century Italian art and decorative arts, assembled by the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers during the second half of the 19th century, are found in their original positions. Because of this, the museum not only offers Italian Renaissance art, but also presents an authentic "magic window" onto Milan's recent aristocratic past fascinating to many kinds of visitors. 

Museo d'Arte e Scienza was founded in 1990 as a teaching museum. Many items on display were a part of artistic and educational material. It has 4 main sections, one being didactic which identifies fake art and antiques from the authentic ones. You will also find a section on African and Buddhist art which dedicates rooms for artworks in bronze, stone and pottery. The other two sections are the scientific laboratory and a permanent exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci. feel free to browse through the exotic oriental art and religion collections that will keep you enchanted throughout your visit. You would be amazed to find over 2,000 items on display, in the Museum's rooms. It is truly a unique and fascinating museum. Visit once, and you are sure to be spellbound by the amazing collection! Check website for more details.

A big castle made by the Sforza family, in some of the ceilings we can see Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings. Nowadays it is the home of several museums like the Archaeological museum and the Museum of Ancient Art, with pieces like the Rondanini Pietá considered the last sculpture of Michelangelo.

In the 4th c. AD, Emperor Maximian made two expansions to the 1st c. BC Roman walls to encircle two new areas of the city. The most complete section of the addition to the walls on the west side can be seen in the garden of the Archaeological Museum (the ex-Monastero Maggiore). Here you can see the Asperto tower (named after the 9th c.Bishop Ansperto who was considered for centuries to have had it built) made from a pebble based cement and brick lining. It has 24 sides and is probably still as high as it was originally (17 metres). It is one of the few visible Roman monuments that has remained whole to the present day. A second, square tower stands in the museum's courtyard that was renovated in the Middle Ages. It was turned into the bell-tower for the monastery. It was also one of the two towers in the body of the construction at one end of the Roman circus from where the 2-wheeled chariots exited in races during the Imperial era.

The museum was founded in 1838, in a neo-Romanesque style building. Renovated and re-opened to the public in 1952, it's located within the public gardens of Corso Venezia. Beginning in 1980, a comprehensive modernization programme was initiated. There are eight sections: Mineralogy and Petrography, Geology, Paleontology, Vertibrate Paleontology, Vertibrate Zoology, Invertibrate Zoology, Entomology, and Botany. The Geology section boasts the largest number of panoramas existing in Europe; in numerous glass displays, natural environments have been re-created with reproductions of the fauna and flora. Of special interest is the fossil collection of the Besano Glacier dated back 200,000,000 years with large-sized reptiles such as Ascheptosauri and Tanistrofei. There are also seven dinosaur skeletons assembled on display and the reconstruction of a Triceratopo Kritosaurus Notabilis. A naturalist library, a bookshop with museum publications, and guided tours are available. Admission is free.

Next door to the imposing Palazzo Belgiojoso, is the house that Alessandro Manzoni lived in from 1814 until he died in 1873. The building itself, which is a block with a central courtyard and side porticoes is one of the characteristic examples of architecture from the renaissance. The most defining element of the building is the façade facing the piazza: it has graffito plasterwork underlined by a rich decoration in terracotta executed in 1864 by Andrea Boni in traditional Lombardian renaissance style. Restored between 1962 and 1965, the building houses the Centro Studi Manzoniani and a library with books about and by Manzoni translated into various languages. The museum houses a collection of relics related to the poet featuring a host of prints, autographs, paintings and sculptures. Also, you will find numerous temporary exhibitions held at the museum from time to time. Check website for more details and exact visiting hours.

The patrician townhouse, Casati Dugnani, is one of the few Milanese residences built outside the medieval walls. It was built at the end of the 17th century by the Meda family, and altered in the 18th century when it passed first to the Casati family, then to the Dugnani. In 1857, the palazzo and its vast grounds (purchased by the city council in 1854) were incorporated in the Public Gardens and became the home of the Natural History Museum, later a secondary school. It was damaged during WW2 but restored and now hosts events and a film museum. Seen from Via Manin, the façade of the palazzo is typically 17th century and rather staid. However, the retired central body of the complex and the wings are more varied and boast elegant porticoes and loggias. Inside in the upper rooms there are stuccoes and frescoes by the Venetian school, an elegant reception room surrounded by a landing, and superb frescoes painted by Tiepolo in 1731 that were commissioned by Count Giuseppe Casati.

This 18th century palace was donated to the city in 1945 by the Attendolo Bolognini family - it holds the Museo Civico di Milano (first housed in 1935 in Palazzo Sormani) on the first floor, and the ground floor is home to the Civic Museum of Contemporary History (inaugurated in 1963 with the aid of A. Rossi, M. Baffa, L. Meda and U. Rivolta). The palace was modified at the beginning of the 19th century, and the 18th century façade is partially Baroque. The inside has two wide granite doors, and has conserved a great deal of its original aspect. The wide stairway with stone parapets leads to the noble apartment which is still decorated with period furniture and furnishings. It has frescoed vaults by Giovan Antonio Cucchi, and walls with pictures from both the collection by Attendolo Bolognini, and from the art gallery in the Museum of Milan.

The museum is located in the rooms of the former Maggiore Monastery. It houses prehistoric, Greek, Etrusian, and Roman relics mainly recovered from the Milan underground during the excavations for the metro line. Of particular interest are: an ancient tract of Roman wall erected by the Emperor Massimiano Erculeo in 236-305 D.C, a tower that survives from the Circus Maximus constructed in the 4th Century CE, and the ruins of a Roman house from the 1st Century CE. In the central entrance to the cloister is the "Masso di Borno", a large stone recovered in Val Camonica with carvings that date back to III millennium A.C. There is a bookstore and a library, and museum publications are available to visitors. Standard admission is 2 Euro, reduced admission is 1 Euro. Guided tours.

In addition to the historical and technical relics of the cinema, the museum documents the influences and themes with costumes and art. There are documents and film equipment from the evolution of cinematography machines of the 1700 and 1800s. The posters from Italian, French and American cinema from 1905 to 1930 with actors such as Dudovich and Mucha are worth having a look at. Don't miss the film and projection machine invented by the Lumière brothers dating from 1895. There is a library with museum publications, and guided tours are available. Film shows on the history of cinema are included in the visit.

The Museum is located in a four storey 17th-century building. Completely renovated, it houses the works of Minguzzi on the lower floor, in the area which was once used to conserve ice. The Museum hosts sculptures, models, and works by the Bolognese Artist from the 1930s to 1997. One finds works dedicated to the themes of civilization and to the men of the "Lager" (concentration camp prisoners). A special feature are the wood panels which reproduce the door of Good and Evil from Saint Peter's Cathedral at Rome.

The Museum is housed in the eighteenth century noble palace of the Morando Attendolo Bolognini family. The Palace, in baroque style, was inhabited by the Contessa until 1945 when, upon her death, she donated it to the City. The Museum is divided into the Picture Gallery with works on the history of the City, and into the apartment of Attendolo Bolognini. It depicts the Milanese way of life over the last three centuries through paintings, antiques, and furnishings. Special Interest: in the Picture Gallery, the oils on canvas by Angelo Inganni 'La piazza del Duomo e l'angolo del coperto Figini'; 'La corsia dei Servi' by Giuseppe Canella; 'il ponte di Porta Ticinese' by Pompeo Calvi.

Fondazione Nicola Trussardi is located near Teatro Alla Scala and is owned by a famous clothing business, it hosts shows and exhibits by international artists. The Museum's aim is to produce quality works from a number of local artists. They have also displayed their works in a number of museums and galleries world wide. Check the website for a list of exhibits. 

The museum of the service station was founded in 1966 by Guido Fisogni at the start of his work in the building and maintenance of service stations. The collection, one of a kind, has over 7000 pieces which put together the evolution of these industrial products. Inside the museum there are 200 period petrol pumps as well as several oil cans, lubricators, number plates and designs linked to the industry. Admission is free.