The public, state-owned Casanatense Library in Rome, managed by the Ministry of Culture, is specialised in the conservation, promotion and protection of rare manuscripts and printed material. It is a perfectly preserved example of an 18th century library with a significant collection and original furnishings. Cardinal Casanate (1620-1700) left his personal effects and library to the Dominican Friars of the Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minevra in Rome so they could create a library for study and research. The architect, A.M. Borioni, planned a building in the convent’s cloister: a vast, austere room of great elegance with a double row of wall shelves whose wooden signs indicating the sections of science and other research areas are still preserved today. One of the 18th and 19th centuries’ most extensive and important libraries, the Casanatense Library passed to the Italian State in 1884 with more rooms added over time, forming the present-day structure.
ROOMS:
Biblioteca Casanatense
Via S. Ignazio, 52
00186 Roma
Tel: +39 06 6976031
email: b-casa@beniculturali.it