Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, State public library in Palazzo Reale, Naples, Italy.
The Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III is a state public library housed in the eastern wing of the Palazzo Reale with extensive collections spanning multiple centuries. The institution holds over one million printed books, thousands of handwritten documents, and ancient papyri, all made accessible to researchers and visitors in reading rooms throughout the building.
The library was founded in 1804 as the Reale Biblioteca di Napoli and brought together collections from the Capodimonte Palace and the Archaeological Museum. It later became a center for organizing and preserving ancient scrolls recovered from archaeological excavations in the surrounding region.
The library houses ancient papyri from Herculaneum, artifacts discovered during excavations in the region that reveal how people in antiquity wrote and recorded their thoughts. Visitors can observe these scrolls and understand the daily concerns and knowledge of those who lived nearly two millennia ago.
The library is easily accessible by public transportation and sits in the heart of Naples near the waterfront and other major museums. Visitors should check in advance which areas are freely accessible to the public and which sections require a library card or special permission to enter.
The library houses a specialized workshop for preserving and deciphering ancient papyri from Herculaneum, integrated in 1910 as the Officina dei papiri ercolanensi. Experts there use technical methods to reveal text on charred and difficult-to-read scrolls, making this facility unique in archaeological conservation.
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