The doors of Palazzo San Felice open as part of the Cultura in Cantiere project.
Italy’s new national Library of Archaeology and Art History, currently under construction in Rome, will offer free guided tours ahead of its scheduled opening late next year.
The tours of Palazzo San Felice, part of the Quirinale presidential complex, will take place every weekend until 28 December and must be reserved in advance.
Titled Cultura in Cantiere, the project will give the public access for the first time to the library building, currently a construction site as it undergoes major renovation works.
Visitors will be presented with a timeline illustrating how the building is being transformed as they make their way along an immersive itinerary that conjures up how the library will look on completion.
The project, which dates back to 2017, is being overseen by the Italian culture ministry and the state property agency.
The new space for the Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte (BiASA) was made available by Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella following his election 10 years ago.
The vast collection of the BiASA, one of Italy’s most prestigious public libraries, will be moved from Palazzo Venezia to its new location on Via della Dataria.
Italy’s only national library dedicated exclusively to art history and archaeology, with around 400,000 volumes, BiASA is the largest of its kind in the world.
The plan by architect Mario Botta will convert the 19th-century building, which comprises 8,000-sqm of internal and external areas, into a public library with “14 km of shelves” to house books and manuscripts relating to art and archaeology.
Located near the Trevi Fountain, Palazzo San Felice was built in 1860 and until a few years ago was used as accommodation for managers at the Quirinale.
The new library will include areas designed to host events, exhibitions and concerts as well as a multipurpose room with a transparent roof that can accommodate up to 350 people.
A highlight of the Cultura in Cantiere tours, which last about 45 minutes, is the opening of the Sepulcrum Semproniorum, a well-preserved tomb dating to the first century BC.
Among the masterpieces on display is the preparatory drawing for the New Plan of Rome (ca. 1736-1738, with later additions), the first modern survey of the entire city, created by Giovan Battista Nolli: one of the greatest undertakings of urban cartography in 18th-century Europe.
For full details of the Cultura in Cantiere project, and to reserve a tour, see the official website.
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