The (Central National Library of Rome), in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, is one of two central national libraries of Italy, along with in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. In total, 9 national libraries exist, out of 46 state libraries. The library's mission is to collect and preserve all the publications in Italy and the most important foreign works, especially those related to Italy, and make them available to anyone. The collection currently includes more than 7,000,000 printed volumes, 2,000

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

, 25,000 ''cinquecentine'' (16th century books), 8,000

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s, 10,000 drawings, 20,000 maps, and 1,342,154

brochure A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...

s. As of 1990, the catalog of the library has been online, containing information on all printed documents received to the library since that year as well as important collections obtained over time, all titles of periodical publications, and parts of monographic publications, among other notable archived items. In order to access the Library, you need a valid Reader’s pass. This is issued by the ''Ufficio Accoglienza e Relazioni con il pubblico''. Please bring a valid ID. Users must leave their bags, food and beverage in the cloakroom. If you need to use your own books, you must get permission from the ''Ufficio Accoglienza''. The Library only allows entry of books not in its catalogues. The BNCR launched several digitization projects with the purpose of enhancing its own collections and make them available to an increasing number of readers. The documents are available at: ''digitale.bnc.roma.sbn.it/tecadigitale''. The Library supports cultural promotion and preservation through an extensive programme of events which includes lectures, video projections, concerts, art exhibitions and guided tours. Authors, publishers, bookshops, libraries, cultural associations are all welcome. There are three public exhibition spaces in the hall of the building. Firstly, ''Museo Spazi900'' dedicated to contemporary italian literature. ''La stanza di Elsa'' is at the very heart of the museum. It is here that Elsa Morante’s studio was recreated with its original furniture. Secondly, ''La grande Biblioteca d’Italia: bibliotecari, architetti e artisti all’opera: 1975-2015'' is a permanent exhibition that celebrates the 40th anniversary of BNCR reopening and the 50th anniversary from the start of its construction in Castro Pretorio. Lastly, the third area hosts temporary exhibitions that exhibit the precious resources preserved by the Library. From July 2021, in the “Biblioteca del Novecento letterario italiano Enrico Falqui” readers can visit the Sala

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, ; ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian novelist and short story writer. His best-known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the '' Cosm ...

, where furniture, objects and paintings retrieved from the apartment Calvino lived in at Piazza di Campo Marzio during the latter years of his life. Guided tours of the library are also available.

History

The predecessor of the present Biblioteca Nazionale was the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Bibliotheca Secreta, located at the Jesuit

Collegio Romano The Roman College (, ) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school through university level and moved to seve ...

, where members of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

had been accumulating in Papal Rome an enormous bibliographic and documentary wealth since their order's foundation in 154

As indicated by its name - "Secret Library" - this material was at the time not accessible to the general public, not even to non-Jesuit Catholic clergy. With the

Unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

and the

Capture of Rome The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...

in 1870, ending the Catholic Church's Temporal Power, this library was taken over by the new

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

and made into the core of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, inaugurated on 14 March 1876 - to which enormous additional material was subsequently added. In its early years the library remained housed at the original Jesuit premises. One century later the library moved to its present location. The current building was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s Massimo Castellazzi, Tullio Dell'Anese and Annibale Vitellozzi and opened in January 1975.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* {{coord, 41.90676, 12.50807, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Libraries in Rome Government of Italy Culture of Italy

1876 establishments in Italy Libraries established in 1876 Deposit libraries Library buildings completed in 1975 Rome R. XVIII Castro Pretorio de:Italienische Nationalbibliothek

History

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links