Casa Rossini, Pesaro

Casa Rossini, on Via Rossini in the centre of Pesaro, is the house where the composer Gioachino Rossini was born on 29 February 1792. Pesaro, a coastal city in the northern Marche and a UNESCO Creative City of Music, has long honoured its most famous son, and the municipality acquired the house in 1892, the centenary of his birth, to convert it into a museum. The townhouse is arranged over several floors as a biographical museum tracing Rossini's life and extraordinary career, from his Pesaro childhood through the triumphs of operas such as 'The Barber of Seville' and 'William Tell' to his later years in Paris. The rooms display portraits, prints, and caricatures of the composer, autograph letters and manuscripts, printed scores, and personal memorabilia including keyboard instruments he is said to have used. An audiovisual presentation sets his music in context. The house lies at the heart of a city that lives and breathes Rossini: each August Pesaro hosts the Rossini Opera Festival, one of the world's leading celebrations of his work, drawing singers and audiences from around the globe to performances in the city's theatres and the Vitrifrigo Arena. Admission to Casa Rossini is €7 for adults and free for under-18s, and the Pesaro Musei Card offers combined access to several of the city's museums. Opening hours are seasonal, with the house closed on Mondays. A visit takes around an hour and pairs well with the city's Palazzo Ducale, the Musei Civici, and the seafront sphere by Arnaldo Pomodoro.