The Angelica Library is in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is a public library

Public library

A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...

 located in the Piazza Sant'Agostino square, next to the church of Sant'Agostino

Sant'Agostino

Sant'Agostino is a church in Rome, Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. It is one of the first Roman churches built during the Renaissance. The construction was funded by Guillaume d'Estouteville, Archbishop of Rouen and Papal Chancellor. The façade was built in 1483 by Giacomo di Pietrasanta, using...

, not far from Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones , and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis'...

.

The library holds about 180 000 volumes of manuscripts (among them Codex Angelicus

Codex Angelicus

Codex Angelicus designated by Lap or 020 , α 5 , is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 9th century...

) and 1 100 incunabula, which formerly belonged to the Augustinians

Augustinians

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...

. These works are important for our knowledge of the history of the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 and Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...

.

History

The library was established in 1604 by Angelo Rocca

Angelo Rocca

Angelo Rocca founder of the Angelica Library at Rome, afterwards accessible from 1604 as a public library....

 (1546–1620), and belonged to the Augustinian monastery. It was the first library in Italy opened for a public service (in 1609).

Since 1940, the library has housed the archives of the Academy of Arcadia

Academy of Arcadia

The Academy of Arcadia or Academy of Arcadians was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690.-History:...

. Since 1975, the library has been under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture

Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities is the ministry of culture of the Republic of Italy. It is based at 27 via del Collegio Romano, Rome, and the current minister is Lorenzo Ornaghi....

.

External links

• Biblioteca Angelica - official website
• Direttori della Biblioteca Angelica di Roma