QUIRINO MARTELLINI

Review of Biblioteca nazionale centrale ...

The National Central Library of Rome was inaugurat...

The National Central Library of Rome was inaugurated on March 14, 1876 in a wing of the monumental sixteenth-century Palazzo del Collegio Romano, seat of the ancient Bibliotheca Secreta or Major of the Jesuits, which constituted the original nucleus of the new institution, to which the manuscript funds were added and to the press of 69 conventual libraries donated to the Kingdom of Italy after the suppression of the religious guilds of Rome in 1873. One hundred years later the Library was moved to its new location, inside the archaeological area of Castro Pretorio, between the university city and the Termini Station, built on a project by the architects Massimo Castellazzi, Tullio Dell'Anese and Annibale Vitellozzi.

Inaugurated on January 31, 1975, the new architectural complex - made of reinforced concrete, glass and aluminum for an area of over 50,000 square meters. - it is divided into four bodies: the book deposit which is spread over ten floors; offices, atrium and exhibition spaces that occupy a five-storey building; the Conference Room as a stand-alone structure; the reading rooms on a single floor, crossed by a large central gallery.

The internal spaces for the public have been recently renovated according to the new needs of a modern library structure. Architectural barriers have been completely eliminated. The realization of the project, which privileged curvilinear elements and last generation materials, multiplied the distribution points of the books; the reading rooms have been expanded and organized into thematic areas; created new rooms for meetings and seminars, a library and a cafeteria; rearranged the internal gardens. The outdoor area has also been reorganized with the construction of an amphitheater and an easier access road illuminated by lampposts.

The exhibition space of the Exhibition Hall has recently been redesigned, which has been so adapted to every kind of need in the field of promotion and enhancement of cultural heritage.