Phone +39 030 297 8200 | Province Province of Brescia | |
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Address Via Mazzini, 1, 25121 Brescia BS, Italy Hours Open today · 8:45AM–6PMWednesday8:45AM–6PMThursday8:45AM–6PMFriday8:45AM–6PMSaturday8:30AM–12:30PMSundayClosedMondayClosedTuesday8:45AM–6PM | ||
The Biblioteca Queriniana is a public library with a rich collection of ancient manuscripts, located on Via Giuseppe Mazzini in Brescia, region of Lombardy, Italy. The library was founded in 1747 and owes the nucleus of its collection to Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (1680–1755).
History
The library was founded by the cardinal, who commissioned the architect Antonio Marchetti to design a building to house the institution. The library was sited at the archbishop's palace. In 1797, the library was nationalized by the Napoleonic government and came under the ownership of the commune.
Over the centuries, the collection has increased, with the addition of libraries from suppressed Catholic monasteries and churches and the donations of private individuals. Eighteenth-century Italy had a number of examples of public libraries endowed by Catholic church leaders, including the Biblioteca Forteguerriana and Fabroniana of Pistoia and the Biblioteca Marucelliana of Florence.
Among notable manuscripts in its collection are:
The library possesses over 526,000 volumes, of which 130,000 were published before 1830.