Libraries & Institutions

Praglia Abbey is a Benedictine monastery, originally founded in 1080, in the frazione of Bresseo in Teolo (Province of Padua). The sixteenth-century library has been converted into a repository for the National Monument Library, and currently houses approximately 120,000 volumes. For further information (e.g., opening hours, contact, access, catalog), please consult the website.

via Abbazia di Praglia, 16 - 35037 Bresseo di Teolo (PD)
tel. 049 99 00 625 or bmn-prg [at] beniculturali.it (bmn-prg[at]beniculturali[dot]it)

This is a small and highly specialized library with valuable holdings (approximately seven thousand volumes, archival documents, the Fondo G. Sbragia and Fondo C. Bene) on the field of theater, dance, and performance, housing also events. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours, events), please see here.

Villa Doria Pamphilj, Largo 3 Giugno 1849, 00164 Rome
tel. 06 45460691 or villinocorsini[at]bibliotechediroma.it or ill.villinocorsini[at]bibliotechediroma.it

The Società Geografia Italiana houses a highly specialized library, the most important of its kind in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. It contains more than four hundred thousand volumes, including rare material. The institute also has a cartoteca and a historical and photographical archive. For further information on access, opening hours, materials, etc., please consult the Società Geografica’s homepage.

Via della Navicella, 12 (Palazzetto Mattei in Villa Celimontana), 00184 Rome
tel. 06 700 8279 or biblioteca [at] societageografica.it (biblioteca[at]societageografica[dot]it)

The Norwegian Institute in Rome, founded in 1959, has a research focus on classical and medieval art and archaeology but expands its historical field of study and promotes research on religious history, philosophy, philology, literature, history, and the history of ideas. The library reflects these research fields and owns approximately 25,000 volumes and a photographic archive. For further information (access, opening hours, and more), please consult the institute’s website.

Address: Viale Trenta Aprile, 33, 00153 Rome
Telephone: 06 5839 1005
Email: post [at] uio.no (post[at]uio[dot]no)

The Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (MAXXI) has invaluable resources for the study of contemporary art and architecture: a specialized library and a media library, archives preserving material on art and architecture respectively, and access to the entire digital material via MAXXI Ricerca. For further information about access, opening hours, special collections, and exhibitions, please consult MAXXI’s website.

Via Guido Reni, 4/A, 00196 Rome
tel. 06 96735 or bibliomaxxi [at] fondazionemaxxi.it (bibliomaxxi[at]fondazionemaxxi[dot]it)

The MART library specializes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, with particular focus on avant-garde movements. It holds over 1,500 periodicals and over 80,000 volumes, including a rich collection of original Futurist publications, artists’ books, and about 10,000 exhibition catalogues. Furthermore, the MART library preserves the private libraries of several artists, architects, and critics and has an archive of historical documents related to twentieth-century art. One of the library’s special collections consists of rare twentieth-century periodicals on art, many of which are digitized. For further information about access, opening hours, archive, exhibitions, and more, please consult the MART’s website.

Corso Bettini, 43, 38068 Rovereto
tel. 0464 454156 or 454157 or library [at] mart.trento.it (library[at]mart[dot]trento[dot]it)

The Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, founded in 1897, is one of the oldest research institutions dedicated to the history of art and architecture in Italy. The institute’s resources—including the library with over 360,000 volumes, some of which are extremely rare, over 2,600 periodicals (of which 1,070 are current), and one of the most wide-ranging photographic libraries on Italian art—are placed at the disposal of researchers from all over the world. Its archive has approximately 60,000 documents of various types. Its largest collection is the correspondence between the KHI and art historians, museums, institutions; further it has a special section, the Archive of 20th century Italian art. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours, user information, etc.), please consult the KHI’s website.

Via Giuseppe Giusti, 44, 50121 Florence
tel 055 24911-1

The Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani and its library are focusing on the city of Rome in all its aspects: history, archaeology, art, urbanism, social conditions, and more, and in all epochs from antiquity to present. Founded in 1925, the institute’s library holds approximately 26,000 volumes and approximately 1,500 periodicals, which can be found in the catalog and the SBN.

Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta 2, 00153 Rome
06 5743442 or studiromani [at] studiromani.it (studiromani[at]studiromani[dot]it) and biblioteca [at] studiromani.it (biblioteca[at]studiromani[dot]it)

The Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani and its library are focusing on the city of Rome in all its aspects: history, archaeology, art, urbanism, social conditions, and more, and in all epochs from antiquity to present. Founded in 1925, the institute’s library holds approximately 34,000 volumes and approximately 1,400 periodicals, which can be found in the catalog and the SBN.

Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta 2, 00153 Rome
tel. 06 5743442 or studiromani[at]studiromani.it and biblioteca[at]studiromani.it

The Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM, Military Geographic Institute) is the national mapping agency for Italy. Its specialized library (founded in 1865, approximately 120,000 volumes plus periodicals) focuses on geography, geodesy, cartography, topography, astronomy, urban planning etc. but also on military history. It has a special collection of seven hundred (historical) atlases, the oldest from 1570. Additionally, the IGM houses a museum (collection on historical instruments) and an archive. For further information (e.g., access, opening hours, and more), please consult the IGM’s website.

Via Cesare Battisti, 10/12, 50122 Florence
tel. 055 27 32244 and caservbiblio[at]geomil.esercito.difesa.it