Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Renaissance conservation library in San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy
The library extends 46 meters in length with reading benches and lecterns arranged along both sides of a central corridor in the reading hall.
Commissioned by Pope Clement VII, Michelangelo designed and supervised the construction of the library between 1524 and 1534 to house Latin and Greek manuscripts.
The collection includes 11,000 manuscripts, the Florence Codex documenting Aztec civilization, and the Amiatinus Codex containing the earliest complete Latin Vulgate Bible.
The library opens from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM during weekdays, with entrance fees of 3 euros or 8.50 euros for a combined ticket with San Lorenzo Basilica.
The monumental staircase designed by Michelangelo introduces architectural innovations that influenced later Renaissance and Baroque architectural developments.
Location: Florence
Inception: 1571
Architects: Michelangelo
Architectural style: Renaissance architecture
Part of: Basilica of San Lorenzo
Phone: +390552937911
Email: b-mela@beniculturali.it
Website: http://bml.firenze.sbn.it
GPS coordinates: 43.77466,11.25454
Latest update: December 5, 2025 16:04
European historic libraries and bookshops preserve written heritage accumulated over centuries. From Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon, founded in 1732 and still operating at the same location, to the Bodleian Library in Oxford, which has housed over 13 million works since 1602, these sites reflect the evolution and dissemination of books. Livraria Lello in Porto is notable for its curved wooden staircase and neo-Gothic woodwork from 1906, while Dominicanen Bookshop in Maastricht is housed in a converted 13th-century church. These spaces are distinguished by their architecture, from baroque to neo-Gothic, and by their function preserved across centuries. The Celsus Library in Izmir, built in 135 AD, used double walls to protect its 12,000 parchments from humidity. Hatchards in London has been operating since 1797 over five floors in Piccadilly, whereas Shakespeare and Company in Paris has maintained its English-language tradition since 1951 opposite Notre-Dame. These institutions offer visitors the chance to explore places where the history of the book is engraved in stone and wood.
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Palazzo Benci
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Palazzo Del Bembo
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Opera di San Giovanni
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Stimmate oratory
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Palazzo Aldobrandini
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Torre dei Marignolli
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Torre in via de' Cerretani
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