The Museum Correale, this valuable bulwark of Sorrento art and culture, has often been defined "the most beautiful province museum of Italy". It is situated in an ancient patrician villa, surrounded by a citrus grove that looks onto the tuff ridge just in front of the Gulf of Naples. The villa and the citrus grove, as well as the wonderful terrace of Belvedere, are part of a donation to the town of Sorrento by the brothers Pompeo and Alfredo Correale, the last descendants of the ancient patrician family. The family Correale was native of Scala, an ancient town situated in front of Ravello and, from historical data available in some documents as early as 1268, we know that they were part of the "Sedile" (ancient nobles associations) of Porta in Sorrento, of Portaretese in Salerno, of Porto in Naples. The brothers Correale therefore put at Sorrento community’s disposal the villa belonged to their family, for housing the art collections gathered in their numerous travels all over Europe. The original character of patrician villa has been taken into account in the arrangement of the numerous collections, disposed as if they constituted the original furniture of the house.
The Museum keeps one of the most beautiful collections of Neapolitan painters dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth century, some works of the famous "School of Posillipo" and by some masters of the Flemish and French schools dating from the same period. It contains valuable Capodimonte and Sévres ceramics, Murano glassware, Bohemia crystals and a collection of watches. The archaeological collection is very interesting as well. A special mention deserves the collection of Sorrento inlaid works dating from the nineteenth century, that occupies the whole hall and is rich in tables, furnishings and finely inlaid jewel cases. The poet and cabinet - maker Salvatore Gargiulo (Saltovar), from Sorrento, donated many of these pieces to the Museum. The library, containing various editions of works by Torquato Tasso and manuscripts of different kinds, is very interesting as well. It keeps also Torquato Tasso’s mortuary mask.
The Museum’s collections are arranged on three floors for a total of twenty-four halls, to which has been added the garret recovered as an expository room.
Ground floor: Founders’ hall – Chapel Correale – Section Sorrento tarsia dating from the nineteenth century – Archaeological Section – Romanesque section.
First floor: Paintings and furniture dating back to the eighteenth century by B Caracciolo, A. Vaccaro, Micco Spadaro, B. Corenzio, G. Lanfranco, P. De Matteis, G. Dei Po, N.M. Rossi, E. De Mura, G. Bonito, C. Amalfi – Oriental chinaware dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth century – Hall of the Flemish painters: P.P. Rubens, J. Vari Kassel, A. Grimmer, M. Sweerts.
Second floor: Still life paintings dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth century by G.B. Ruoppolo, T. Realfonso, G. Cusati, A. Ascione, G. Casissa, A. Belvedere – eighteenth and nineteenth century landscape - painters: J.R. Volaire, S. Déms, G, Dughet, J. Rabbel, F. Vervloet. Landscape painters of the "School of Posillipo": A.S, Pitloo, T. Duelere, G. Gigante – Hall of the Italian and European watches dating from the eighteenth century.
Third floor: Italian and foreigner majolica dating from the centuries seventeenth and eighteenth. Milano, Savona, Castelli, Sicily, Calabria, Mausticres, Ruen. Italian and foreign chinaware dating from the eighteenth century. Meissen, Wien, Ludwidsbourg, Nimphenburg, Zurich, Chelsa, Bow, S. Petersbourg - Capodimonte, Doccia, Venice – Belvedere.

Via Correale, 48 - Sorrento
tel. 081 878.18.46
Open everyday from 9.00 a. m. to 2.00 p. m., except Tuesdays and public holidays.
Admission: Euro 5,16