The Puccini Museum of Celle is situated in the little village where Iacopo di Antonio Puccini, the great-grandfather of the famous Lucca-born coposer, was born on 26 january 1712.
Iacopo was the founding father of the dynasty of musicians that reached the apex of its glory in the figure of the maestro Giacomo Puccini.
Giacomo who was born in Lucca in 1858, like all his family maintained very close links with the last time on 26 october 1924, just a few days before his departure for brussels, where he died on 29 november of the same year. On the occasiono f this visit the village offered him a triumphal welcome, with 12 arches of laurel and other vegetation set along the street, one for each of his operas. The maestro then attended a ceremony of inauguration, during which the commemorative plaque that we can still see today was set upon the facade of the house of his ancestors.
In this veru house, ehere the members of the Puccini family were born and reared probably from as far back as the sixteenth century, the Museo Pucciniano of Celle has been set up, displaying num erous mementoes of the family.
The museum is arranged on two floors: on the ground floor, in the entrance hall, we can see the crown offered to Giacomo following the success of the premiere of Le Villi, which he bore to the bedside of his dying mother, the piano on which Puccini composed part of Madam Butterfly, and the gramophone donated to the composer by Thomas Edison.
The room is furnished with the original pieces that were previuosly in the composer’s birthplace in Lucca, and the bed in which Giacomo Puccini was born.
The kitchen is a magnificent example of the old country kitchens of the time.
Displayed on the upper floor is the christening robe of the Puccini family, which was also used by Giacomo, in addition to numerous relics of his forbears and an extensive collection of autograph letters, original sheet music and autograph scores records and photos that retrace the life and successes of Giacomo Puccini.
The museum, set up in 1973 by the Lucchesi nel Mondo association, which owns it and has been managing it uninterruptedly since its opening, was subjected to a meticulous renovation in 2004.
This has made it possible to set off to their best advantage the precious and fascinating collection of mementoes that was donated to the association in the early 1970s by the daughters of Ramelde Puccini, Giacomo’s favourite sister, Alba Del Panta Franceschini and Nelda Giaccai Franceschini.
In the summer season the Lucchesi nel Mondo association organises free operatic concert in the small square in front of the Museum, as well as offering guided tours all year round.
Museo di Casa Puccini
Celle dei Puccini, Pescaglia Lucca
Associazione Lucchesi nel Mondo
Castello Porta S. Pietro Mura Urbane 6 Lucca
Tel. /Fax +39 0583 467855
Open by appointment
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