Puccini Museum – Casa natale

About the museum

Giacomo Puccini was born on 22 December 1858 in this house in Corte San Lorenzo in Lucca, where the family had moved in 1815 after the death of his grandfather Domenico. He spent his childhood and youth there until he moved to Milan to study at the Conservatory in 1880. After his mother's death in 1884 the house was rented out, and in 1889 Puccini's brothers sold it, reserving the right to buy it back. The composer redeemed it in 1894, after the success of “Manon Lescaut”, but never lived in it again.

In 1974 Rita Dell'Anna, widow of his son Antonio, donated the property so that it could become a museum. The Fondazione Giacomo Puccini, established in 1973, furnished it with furniture, paintings, documents and memorabilia donated by Dell'Anna herself, and inaugurated it on 28 October 1979. Since 2004 the museum has had a new display.

The museum occupies the second floor and presents the house as it was in the days of the young Puccini, thanks to wall investigations that revealed painted decorations, the reopening of two doors and the reconstruction of a wall demolished in the 20th century. Visitors see the music room with the Steinway & Sons piano on which the composer wrote much of “Turandot”, the birth room, the kitchen, the drawing room, and an attic evoking “Bohème”, with portraits, family furniture, letters, libretti and scores.

Highlights

• Steinway & Sons piano on which Puccini composed “Turandot”
• Birth room with Leonetto Cappiello's portrait of Puccini (1898)
• Reconstructed rooms with 19th-century painted decorations
• Attic arranged as the one in “Bohème”
• Letters, libretti, scores and memorabilia of the composer

Permanent exhibition

• La Casa natale di Giacomo Puccini – Route through the rooms of the house where Puccini was born, with the piano, portraits, letters, libretti and scores, the birth room and the “Bohème” attic.

Founded

1979

Operated by

Fondazione Giacomo Puccini

Admission & discounts

Free admission also for journalists and tourist guides with a press card. Holders of certain partner cards (for example Touring Club Italiano, FAI, ICOM and EdumuseiCard) receive a €2 reduction. Booking is strongly recommended for group visits; admission is limited to 25 people at a time.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is on the second floor of a listed historic building. The entrance has a ramp and a stairlift for people with motor disabilities, to be booked at the ticket office at least 2 days in advance. Two rooms are not accessible and are visited virtually with a tablet, which also contains a video route in LIS (Italian Sign Language) for deaf visitors; use of the tablet is free for people with disabilities.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The activity “Io gioco con Giacomo” offers animated visits, workshops and readings for children and parents once a month from October to May; family ticket €17.

Getting there & parking

By car: from Florence, the A11 motorway, Firenze–Pisa Nord (exits Lucca Est or Lucca Ovest); from Genoa, the A12 Genova–Rosignano with a branch from Viareggio.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Bookshop with ticket office at Piazza Cittadella 5; the same building has a small lecture room with audio-video equipment available to groups by reservation.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit