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Biblioteca Angelica

Historic site · Sant'Eustachio, Italy

An Italian state library under the Ministero della Cultura, in the Augustinian convent block of Sant'Agostino. Roma Capitale counts about 200,000 volumes, among them some 3,000 Latin, Greek and Oriental manuscripts, 1,000 incunabula including the De Oratore of Cicero, 20,000 sixteenth-century editions and 10,000 prints and maps. Roma Capitale directs enquiries about access to the library itself, so no hours are given here.

History

Traces of a library here go back to the fourteenth century, but the decisive act was the Augustinian bishop Angelo Rocca's: in 1604 he entrusted his library of about 20,000 volumes to the friars of Sant'Agostino, endowed it, and directed that it be open to all without limit of rank or means. Lukas Holste's printed books arrived in 1661 and Cardinal Domenico Passionei's collection in 1762. By special papal authorisation the library also kept books on the Index, marked with an arrow on the spine. Luigi Vanvitelli rebuilt the reading room, completed in 1765. The Italian State acquired the library after Unification, and since 1940 the building has also housed the Accademia dell'Arcadia, founded in 1690. It has been used as a film location, including for De Sica's Il Giardino dei Finzi Contini and Howard's Angels and Demons.

Visit

Piazza di Sant'Agostino 8, 00186 Roma RM

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