From the high ceilings of the ballroom to the intimacy of the tiny boudoir of Elisabeth of Austria, also Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Lombardy-Venetia, the visitor plunges into an atmosphere of another century and discovers the setting life of the one who fell under the blows of an Italian anarchist in 1898 in Geneva, at only 60 years old.

The boudoir, particularly touching with "a frieze representing her favorite flowers which were lilies of the valley and cornflowers (...) was entirely made for her", tells AFP Jérôme Zieseniss, president of the French Committee for the safeguard of Venice. , the organization that fully financed the seven million euros of work thanks to donations from generous patrons.

"She was the one who lived the longest in this palace": in addition to occasional visits, "she spent seven months in a row here", he specifies about the one who was immortalized in the cinema by Romy Schneider and Ava Gardner.

"She received little, she was sent photos of young women from all over Europe to compare herself with them and see if she was still beautiful".

Standing in front of a portrait of the Empress, Andrea Bellieni, director of the Correr Museum and as such administrator of the palace, reveals that "Sissi, with a complex and introverted personality, did not like public life and apparently liked to go out at night in gondola".

Jérôme Zieseniss, president of the French Committee for the Safeguarding of Venice, on June 8, 2022 during the restoration work of the Royal Palace Tiziana FABI AFP

Located between Saint Mark's Square and the mouth of the Grand Canal, therefore in the heart of the Serenissima, these superb apartments have no less than 27 rooms that required 22 years of work.

“We had to bring out five administrations because these rooms had been transformed into offices at the end of the monarchy (…) It was not very simple”, euphemised Jérôme Zieseniss.

If the Empress of Austria is its most famous guest, the palace owes its birth to the French Emperor Napoleon 1st, who became King of Italy in 1805, even if he himself never set foot there.

A statue depicting him as a Roman emperor is nevertheless exhibited in the palace to remind him of his role.

The Louvre in Venice

"Then the Austrians succeeded him for 50 years, then the Savoys (the dynasty which reigned over Italy from 1861 to 1946, editor's note) arrived, in short the real kings of Italy, the Italian kings of Italy", observes with malice Mr. Zieseniss.

A few weeks before the opening to the public, top-flight craftsmen are still hard at work putting the finishing touches to the fittings, such as Andrea Dal Mas, upholsterer by profession and busy adjusting the drapery of a four-poster bed .

In the Royal Palace of Venice during restoration work, June 8, 2022 Tiziana FABI AFP

When asked if Sissi would recognize "her" palace today, he answers with irony: "Knowing the wandering spirit of the princess, it remains to be seen if she would have stayed or if she would have changed her residence again".

After his years of hard work, Jérôme Zieseniss, here as at home, has chosen to recount the adventures of the place in a book, "The Royal Palace of Venice - The hidden jewel of Venice", prefaced by the former president and director of the Louvre Pierre Rosenberg.

Swarming with anecdotes, it recounts with relish the intertwining of family ties between the successive occupants of these exceptional places.

In the Royal Palace of Venice, June 8, 2022 during restoration work Tiziana FABI AFP

In Sissi's bedroom, he points to the daybed of Eugène de Beauharnais, "who was the son-in-law of Napoleon, Viceroy of Italy and Prince of Venice".

"Eugene was married to Auguste-Amelie of Bavaria, who was Sissi's own aunt. So the dynasties succeeded one another, but in fact it is practically always the same family that remains", he notes with a smile.

On a practical level, the finally restored rooms of the Royal Palace are accessible with the access ticket to the Correr Museum, a museum complex nicknamed by some "the Louvre of Venice".

A name willingly accepted by its director because "this building concentrates centuries of history and since 1922 has housed the city museum, which tells the great story of the Serenissima".

© 2022 AFP