- Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, also known as San Marcos, is one of the oldest manuscript libraries in the country and maintains one of the largest collections of classic texts in the world.
- It is located in the piazetta of St. Mark's Square, in the heart of Venice
- It was built and decorated to receive the Greek and Latin manuscripts donated to the Republic of Venice by Cardinal Bessarion in 1468.
- The first 16 galleries of the building were built between 1537 and 1553, and the frescoes and decorations were made until 1560.
- The building itself is built in Renaissance style, decorated by various artists, such as Titian, Alessandro Vittoria, Paolo Veronese or Tintoretto. The interior is adorned with several frescoes that make the walk through this place pleasant.
- One of the first librarians, who worked since 1530, was Pietro Bembo.
- The jewel of the library, which is not the National Archive of Venice, was the donation of the Serenissima from a collection of manuscripts assembled by the humanist, scholar, benefactor and Byzantine collector Cardinal Bessarion. This donation, made on May 31, 1468, consisted of approximately 750 codices in Latin and Greek, in addition to 250 manuscripts and some printed books (incunabula), becoming the first public library open to scholars of Venice.
- Like the British Library or the Library of Congress of the United States in modern times, the Marciana Library enjoyed a law of 1603 that a copy of all books published in Venice was deposited there, the first law of this type .
- Currently, the Marciana Library has more than one million printed books, in addition to approximately 13,000 manuscripts, 2,883 incunabula and 24,055 books printed between 1500 and 1600. It also has many illuminated manuscripts.
- Among its irreplaceable treasures are the unique scores of Francesco Cavalli's operas.
What is the Marciana Library today?
At present, the Marciana Library depends on the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture and has a million volumes, 13,000 manuscripts, more than 2800 incunabula. The building of the Marciana Library is a true work of art beginning with the decoration of its halls, its sculptures and its coffered ceilings. This library is rich in terms of Greek culture, Venetian history and Venetian editions, and has been reinforced in this century by large donations. He is currently at the service of scholars from around the world playing an important role in the cultural life of the city of Venice.Paragraph. Haz clic aquí para editar.