Vittoriale, record number of visitors in 2023: nearly 300,000 to D'Annunzio's house

Record number of visitors in 2023 for the Vittoriale degli Italiani , which not only returns to pre-Covid levels, but also records the highest number of visitors ever: in fact, 291,504 people visited Gabriele d’Annunzio’s residence last year, beating the previous record of 279,328 visitors touched in 2019. Surpassing pre-pandemic levels was the goal that the Il Vittoriale Foundation and its president Giordano Bruno Guerri had set for themselves, and it was achieved.8.9 percent more than in 2022 (when there were 267,512 visitors) and 4.4 percent more than in 2019, which until now, as mentioned, has been the year of the greatest influx to the house museum. A significant result that once again confirms the Vittoriale among the most visited house museums in the world.

The year 2023 began with restoration work on the Vittoriale’s surrounding walls, from the ticket office to the Casseretto, a major intervention that, together with the work carried out in previous years, restored the monumental entrance and the entrance from the ticket office to their original state. The lighting system created together with A2A thus enhances a totally restored heritage that gives visitors glimpses and passages of unique beauty. Also in early 2023, the restoration of the Regia Nave Puglia, in collaboration with the Northern Naval Command, and that of the MAS were completed, both of which were inaugurated along with the restoration of the surrounding walls on the March 11 holiday. The slopes of the Rio dell’Acqua Savia were also consolidated and a new path leading to the Dancing Pond was created. In autumn 2023, work began on the restoration of the citadel’s facades facing the private gardens, the little valley, and the MAS: an important work that complements that done for the elevations facing the Piazzetta Dalmata and will enhance the citadel complex in every architectural aspect. Along with the facades, the woodwork and metal inserts will be restored. The Cortile degli Schiavoni with the adjoining Portico del Parente will also undergo restoration through the recovery of the coffered and decorated ceilings, plasters, wooden and stone additions. March 2024 will also see the opening of the new checkroom, which will be equipped with easier spaces and more functional furnishings. Completing the 2023 interventions will be the total renovation of the bathrooms under the steps of the Amphitheater.

During the year 135 scholars visited the Vittoriale Archives and Libraries. On the acquisitions front, the Dannunziana Corrente Library acquired 86 new publications published in 2023 and 801 newspaper articles catalogued and available in the Clippings Archive. In detail: Acquisition of some materials that belonged to architect Gian Carlo Maroni; Acquisition of autograph letters, note, envelopes from Gabriele d’Annunzio to Ugo Rosti; Acquisition of an autograph minute for telegram from Gabriele d’Annunzio to Luisa Baccara; - Acquisition of a handwritten letter from Gabriele d’Annunzio to Guido Keller and a letter from Guido Keller to Gabriele d’Annunzio; Acquisition of a typewritten letter signed by Maria Gallese d’Annunzio addressed to lawyer Tommasi; Commodity of Alberto Viscardi of a Fiuman heirloom consisting of a leaf with Gabriele d’Annunzio’s autograph signature in a frame; Donation of Vincenzo Bruzzese of the series Bollettino Ufficiale Comando di Fiume d’Italia and printed leaflets with Fiuman messages by Gabriele d’Annunzio; Donation of Giampiero Cargiolli of a letter by Gabriele d’Annunzio and a group of photographs pertaining to the positioning of the Nave Puglia at the Vittoriale; Donation of Maria Pia Ciappetta of a group of postcards with images of East Africa; Donation by Marco Crescienzi of a group of letters from Silvio Montanarella to his wife Renata d’Annunzio; Donation by the Di Mano in Mano Association of Parma of a telegram with envelope from Gabriele d’Annunzio to Amos Nattini and a postcard from Gabriellino d’Annunzio to Amos Nattini; Donation by Lorenzo Gaspari of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s autograph correspondence with Noemi Gaspari and a group of photographs; Donation by Eleonora Gyurus of valuable volumes devoted to the history of the Mondadori publishing house; Donation by Anne Morelli of Gabriele d’Annunzio to Ludovico Toeplitz; Donation of Salvatore Paolo Pazzi of a group of letters from Legionnaire Ettore Moccia to his family; Donation of Laity Pisani of a group of coeval editions of literary works by Gabriele d’ Annunzio; Donation of Francesco Riscica of a group of letters from Gian Carlo Maroni to Renato Brozzi; Donation by Giancarlo Scuderi of the typescript document with Gabriele d’Annunzio’s handwritten subscription of the estimate for the Schifamondo works; Donation by Francesca Secondini of a group of coeval editions of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s literary works. And still on the acquisitions, as every year important artists wanted to pay tribute to the figure of Gabriele d’Annunzio by giving on loan or donating their works to the Vittoriale degli Italiani. The new works on loan are The Ashanti Model, by Sergio Capellini, THE PRISM, by Stefano Simontacchi and 23 heirlooms consisting of books, drawings and objects from the Gian Carlo Maroni collection. Donations, on the other hand, concern the works-Tamara de Lempicka, by Perry Bianchini, La Marchesa Casati, by Camelia Rostom, 15 objects and textiles from Chiara Arnaudi’s collection, and 15 works from Claudio Koporossy’s exhibition The Magnificent Obsession.

Five exhibitions were set up in the park, and five were also exhibitions to which the Vittoriale collaborated with loans, while 17 were special days. The Vittoriale was also the site of the Tener-a-mente festival, which drew nearly 27,000 spectators.

As far as educational activities are concerned, the Vittoriale has equipped itself over the years with a series of educational services in order to constitute a didactic support for teachers and pupils. The habit of collaborating annually in the planning of educational activities with a core group of teachers, from primary to high school, has made it possible to establish a partnership in the development of new projects not only with individual schools, but also with the Ministry of Education, the Brescia Provincial School Office and the Institute for Educational Research and Experimentation of the Autonomous Province of Trento. In fact, the Vittoriale has been identified by the provincial school institutions as a “Friendly Museum,” with the aim of establishing, through a series of joint initiatives, an increasingly close relationship of integration between the museum and schools in the area. For the 2022-2023 school year, the Vittoriale has proposed the educational project “One must make one’s life as one makes a work of art. One must make the sight of a man of intellect his work. True superiority is all here,” dedicated to educational institutions of all levels.

On the communication front, the Vittoriale’s social profiles have flanked and supported the Foundation’s communication throughout the year through the promotion of the many events that enliven the Vittoriale every year. The 2023 headings included Behind the Scenes where the institute shared the construction sites and daily activities that animate the Vittoriale; restoration projects, starting with work on the Nave Puglia. During 2023 also new milestones were reached in terms of followers: Facebook exceeded 45,000, Instagram over 16,000 with continued growth.

Vittoriale has also been very active in the creation of products. From the collaboration with Domìni Veneti came the new Vittoriale red wine called FrateFoco. “Frate Foco” is one of the nom de plume that the Poet used to sign letters addressed to friends and lovers, and the wine bearing this name is intended as a tribute to his taste for pseudonyms and ’literary disguises.’ The theme is that of the mystical contemplation of a man, confined within the walls of his home, the Priory at Vittoriale, burning with the most earthly passions. An intense, fragrant and pleasantly velvety Ripasso from the heart of Valpolicella Classica. December 2023 also saw the presentation of Gemuto, the Vittoriale’s new oil. Thanks to the invaluable work of the historic Bonamini Oil Mill (a mill with almost 60 years of activity), the Vittoriale can extract this precious new extra virgin olive oil from the 500 centuries-old olive trees that inhabit its spaces. The oil is for sale, along with other Vittoriale products, in the Bottega del Vittoriale, at the park’s exit.

The Vittoriale has also been playing a central role in the cultural management scene for several years being, among other things, among the founding members of the GardaMusei Association, which has as its main objective the creation of a cultural network that extends from Garda to six other Italian regions (from Trentino to Sicily), and which launched in 2023 One Garda Ticket, the new platform for the sale of discounted tickets for cultural and tourist attractions on Lake Garda and its surroundings.

Numerous initiatives are already in the pipeline for 2024, starting with the big party that on March 9 will kick off the Vittoriale’s spring season and see thesimultaneous opening of five exhibitions, including one in collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries. Also thanks to the new exhibition spaces on the Regia Nave Puglia and under the steps of the Amphitheater, the number of exhibitions scheduled for this year is also expected to increase. In the summer period, the Vittoriale will also host major music, theater and performance events in 2024, such as the Tener-a-mente festival, the Premio del Vittoriale and the second edition of the Hedoné light and sound art installation route.

Thus Foundation President Giordano Bruno Guerri: “The Vittoriale degli Italiani is an open and hectic construction site. In 2023 the balance sheet was positive, with profits in the black and growing that will allow us to continue the restoration work and new openings. The main satisfaction is that the works and the success of the public are above all the consequence-not the cause-of a changed perception of those who wanted and created the Vittoriale. The d’Annunzio modernizer and anticipator, the man capable of looking into the past to read the future is the genius loci that is increasingly being rediscovered within these walls, still alive to the motto ”There is no rest, there is no respite, there is no sleep."

Vittoriale, record number of visitors in 2023: nearly 300,000 to D'Annunzio's house

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