Biblioteca antoniana, Theological library in Padua, Italy.

Biblioteca Antoniana is a theological library in Padua housed next to Basilica del Santo, containing thousands of books and manuscripts spanning religious scholarship. The reading rooms have classical architectural design and preserve collections ranging from ancient Hebrew texts to medieval choir books.

The library traces its origins to the convent of the Basilica del Santo, under construction around 1240, and to the teaching of Saint Anthony, who died in 1231. Two documented donations, a codex of his Sermones in 1237 and a 25-volume Parisian glossed Bible around 1240, are considered its founding stones. A 1396 inventory and a 1449 reorganisation mark its growth; it has occupied its current hall since at least 1449. In 1797 and 1810 the librarian Bonaventura Perissuti and the Veneranda Arca di Sant'Antonio saved it from Napoleonic confiscation, and in 1932 it became a pontifical library.

The collection reflects centuries of religious study and learning that shaped this community. The hand-illuminated choir books and Hebrew texts still speak to the spiritual traditions that defined Padua for generations.

Access to the reading rooms is controlled and may require registration ahead of your visit. The library offers internet connectivity and specialized theological resources, so it helps to know what you are looking for before arriving.

The ceiling's central rosette, painted in 1702, is by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, not Ferdinando Focchi, who painted the surrounding frame. It shows the Immaculate Virgin assumed into heaven, exalted by Franciscan saints: Bernardino da Siena, Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, Duns Scotus and disciples, and Anthony of Padua.