The Musei Civici Veneziani brings together museums and collections of immense artistic and historical importance. It is responsible for providing various cultural services and, at an institutional level, for overseeing the conservation, study and promotion of the city's vast cultural and artistic heritage, thus contributing to the city's sense of identity.

The museums are grouped around various areas of interest: St Mark's Square; 18th-century Venice; modern and contemporary art; natural history and ethnography. Each one of these attracts a sizeable public from among tourists and young people, offering a wide range of innovative and modern services to facilitate full educational exploitation of the material on display. The museums also hold special exhibitions of material contained in their individual collections, as well as art and historical exhibitions of international importance.