The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

By Celeste Gianni

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This February 2020, I spent three weeks in Rome carrying out research for the project Stories of Survival: Recovering the Connected Histories of Eastern Christianity in the Early Modern World (Faculty of History, University of Oxford).

I spent most of the time at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (commonly known also as Vatican Library) looking at Arabic manuscripts related to the Eastern Christian communities active between 1500 to 1750, focusing on authorship, but also scribal practices, as well as ownership, reading and transmitting information as attested by the marginalia, colophons and other documentary notes that are commonly found in Arabic manuscripts.

Personally, I looked specifically at one collection that is held at the Vatican library, namely the collection of Arabic and Syriac manuscripts of the Catholic Syrian priest Paul Sbath (Aleppo, 1887, – Aleppo, 20 October 1946) that he sold to the Vatican in 1927. I both looked at the manuscripts and accessed the archive material related to the acquisition history of this collection.

Unfortunately, the restrictions regarding taking photographs inside the Vatican Library mean that I do not have any image of manuscripts nor interiors of the library to add to this post. Nevertheless, I think this aspect also adds to the uniqueness of this experience, that I will treasure forever in my private memories.

Location, registration & facilities

All rules to access the library are explained in detail here.

From my experience, the registration process was part of the “adventure”. On my first day, I entered Vatican City from Porta St. Anna in Via di Porta Angelica, the road that takes you to Saint Peter Square coming from the closest Metro Station, Ottaviano (line A).

If you are walking, it is easy to get there from anywhere in Rome; just follow St. Peter’s Dome; you can easily spot from afar.

At St. Anna’s Gate, the Pontifical Swiss Guards stopped me to ask if I had a permit. I showed them a letter of introduction from Oxford University.

Please note that it is not possible to take selfies with the Pontifical Swiss Guards (I enquired about it). However, you can take pictures of them from outside St. Anna’s Gate.

Pontifical Swiss Guards are really polite, and once you have your Vatican Library card, you’ll have to show it to them every morning when you get in and they will salute you making a specific gesture and saying “Buongiorno” (good morning); that is the way they have to salute scholars going to the library. They will also say “Buonasera” (good evening) when you leave in the evening.

With the letter of presentation, the Swiss Guard let me access the Agenzia delle dogane e dei Monopoli (Customs) of Vatican City. At the Customs, you’ll find the Vatican police, dressed in the uniform of policemen, and an office for passport control. There, I showed again the presentation letter from Oxford, I left my ID (it could be a passport of any country, Italian driving licence, or Italian ID) and I was given a temporary pass, to be returned upon my exit from Vatican City.

Once you complete the registration at the Vatican Library and get the library card, you won’t need to stop at Customs anymore, and you will be let into Vatican City by the Swiss Guards just by showing your library card.

From Customs, to get to the library entrance you’ll need to proceed straight ahead until you pass the wooden gate and get to Cortile del Belvedere (Belvedere courtyard), turn to the right and arrive at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

If it is a nice day and you got a bit early at Vatican City (the library opening time is usually 8:45 am), don’t wander too much around; it is not advisable, as you could be questioned by the numerous policemen in the area about why are you wandering around and not going straight to the library. However, you shouldn’t have any problem popping to the nice garden that you find on your way to the right side between Customs and Cortile del Belvedere.

There are no coffee shops inside Vatican City, aside from the coffee shop inside the library (which I will talk about later). There is a pharmacy just by the entrance, on the right side, in Via della Posta. Apparently, prices of medicines and other products are really low inside Vatican City because it is a tax-free zone, but you will need a special medical prescription or a Vatican City passport to access that specific pharmacy. There is also a post office, but I didn’t try to send my postcards from there, with regret, as I imagine they will have special stamps for the Vatican City postal service.

If you think you can spot the Pope leaning from a window facing the Belvedere courtyard, don’t be disappointed if you won’t see him. Most of those buildings facing the courtyard house the Vatican Museums, which is publicly accessible. However, in a recent movie called “The Two Popes”, by director Fernando Meirelles, the actors interpreting the current Pope and the previous one, were seen visiting the Sistine Chapel (which is inside the Vatican Museums). So perhaps you can spot the Pope from those windows and it is worth looking up anyway as the buildings and the sky above are a refreshing view before getting to work inside the library walls.

However, if you really want to see the Pope, you can go to the Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square; if instead you want to visit the square when there’s almost nobody there, you can go early in the morning before getting to the library: it takes five minutes to go and come back from St. Anna’s Gate and it is a beautiful place, especially on a sunny winter day.

Once you have entered the gate of the Vatican Library, at the reception you’ll be directed to the secretary office for registration. It is advisable to get there early, in particular if it is a Monday, because there are many new visitors every day. I arrived fifteen minutes after the opening time and there were already four people before my turn. It takes about 20 minutes each to complete registration.

There is usually only one person at the registration office. They will ask you for the letter of presentation but also will ask you why you are visiting and what sort of material you want to access, with specific details of your research project or work. They will explain to you the rules and logistics, take a picture for the library card, and ask you to complete two forms (one for registration with name, address, etc.; and one for acknowledgment of legal matters such as to not take pictures inside the library, nor to damage any items, etc).

First of all, remember to bring with you the letter of presentation from your institution. Don’t panic if you don’t have your passport or ID that you left at Customs: from Customs, they automatically scan it and send a copy to the library secretary, which will be used for completing the registration process. Knowledge of Italian will speed up the process, but English is also fine. If you do not know either, it will just take a bit longer, but eventually it will be sorted out.

Registration is free of charge, but if you lose your card, you will have to pay 20 Euros to do it again.

In accordance to the period you are staying, you will be given a certain number of entries to the library that will be added to your card, as they will ask for the exact numbers of weeks you need to access the library. If you don’t use all the entries, you can still use them within 6 months. Otherwise, you will have to stop by registration once again. Keep your card for future visits or you will have to pay 20 Euros to do it again. The card can be recharged with new entries in future.

Your entries will be logged at the reception desk by the entrance every day when you get in. Your card will then be enabled to access the lockers, where you will need to leave everything aside from a pencil,  a laptop, notebooks, personal books, wallet and mobile phone.

Even though you can take your mobile phone with you, it is not allowed to take pictures inside the library (not just of the books). 

You can bring your own food directly to the library courtyard where there is also a café. To get to the café, on the 2^nd floor, you’ll have to cross an open courtyard. It doesn’t rain much in Rome and it is never that cold, but just in case, be prepared to cross 20 meters outdoors before reaching the café.

The café offers cheap options (being within a tax-free zone) for breakfast and lunch. It opens around 10 am and closes around 3:30 pm. For lunch, you can get salad, pizza, panini, and some hot food options as well. For breakfast, croissants only, food-wise. Coffee, tea and fresh orange juice are available to purchase. Free tap water is also available. Please note that water bottles are not allowed in the library.

Accessibility

The reading rooms are generally open from 8:45 AM to 5:10 PM (the Sistine Hall is open until 4:00 PM), from Monday to Friday. There are specific closing days related to Christian festivities that should be taken into consideration, hence it is important to check the official calendar. Also, sometimes there are special changes to the opening times which are announced on the Twitter account of the Vatican Library.

If you are an independent researcher, you might have issues with registration at the Vatican library (however, I am not entirely sure about this, as, from my experience, I saw an honest interest in helping researchers from around the world), in case you do not have a letter of presentation from an official institution.

If you speak either Italian or English, you will have no problem communicating with the staff with other languages, it might take a bit longer, but eventually you will access the library and get help from the library staff.

Be aware of dangerous driving inside Vatican City, in particular when you enter the Belvedere courtyard, because the gate is narrow and cars go fast nevertheless.

The old structure of the buildings inside the Vatican Library complicates adjusting the accessibility of all areas to step free access. The Vatican museums have already worked towards accessibility for visitors with disabilities. Wheelchair users would need to contact the Vatican library admission office in advance prior to their visit to verify the condition of accessing the library at the time of their visit.

There is one step at the entrance of the Library. A special permit to access the parking area is required. The parking is just in front of the library entrance. All reading rooms inside the Vatican Library are wheelchair accessible via the lift.

Reception, the registration office and the lock room are step-free accessible, though lockers are randomly assigned by the system and most of them are not wheelchair accessible due to the narrow space between them.

The toilets at the entrance might pose an issue for wheelchair users, as there is limited space for accessing the toilets with a large wheelchair. A small wheelchair would get in. The toilets on the second floor have steps to access them. I could not see any disabled toilet signalled.

The café is not wheelchair accessible. There are very narrow stairs to access it, as it was once one of the underground arches sustaining the old building of the Vatican palace. It looks like a cave, and it is a separate room from the rest of the building, facing an open courtyard and not accessible from anywhere else. However, I believe something is being planned for the future, as the “balcony area” of the café that faces the courtyard could potentially be used as an access point via a lifting ramp, which is not in place yet.

Collections, catalogues & reproductions

As found in the official website, the collections of the Vatican Library are managed by three departments, namely the manuscript department, the printed books department, and numismatics department.

These collections are housed in different floors, with different reading rooms. Numismatics and the Vatican Archives are housed in separate areas, which require a different card to the library card. Some archive collections are available to consult at the manuscripts’ reading room, specifically those related to the history of the Vatican Library (class-mark: Arch.Bibl.).

On the fourth floor, there is the Sistine Hall, another reading room with reference works. It is not the Sistine Chapel, but the frescos of the Hall are worth spending some time in this reading room, even if you are not using the sources. There were no readers when I visited the Hall, and the librarian was so nice to give me a printed map of the frescos with the labels explaining what they were. Again, no pictures allowed, but I found a tweet by the Vatican Library Twitter account about the opening of this reading room with some pictures, dated 5 October 2017.

I spent all my research time on the 3^rd floor, in the manuscript reading room.

The collection of oriental manuscripts began under Pope Leo X (1513 – 1521) and kept growing until recent times, particularly during the 19^th and 20^th century. The Vatican Library holds over about 65,000 individual codices, including over 1,000 Syriac manuscripts, 2,600 Arabic manuscripts, 1,200 Persian manuscripts, and 500 Turkish manuscripts. The manuscripts are included in about 10 different collections (fondi), which are described in various catalogues. Only some manuscripts are described in detail in the online catalogue, but the printed catalogues for each “fondo” are available to consult in the reading rooms.

The history of the oldest collections of Arabic, Syriac, Persian and Turkish manuscripts is described in the second volume by Giorgio Levi Della Vida, titled, “Ricerche sulla formazione del più antico fondo dei manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca Vaticana” (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1939).‎ The oldest manuscripts were brought to the Vatican by Christian missionaries and representatives of Eastern Christian Churches to the Vatican, including the Coptic mission that arrived in Italy in 1441 for the Council of Florence; the Maltese clerics, such as the bishop Leonardo Abel (d. 1605) and the inquisitor of Malta, Monsignor Della Corbara (d. 1609); the Malabar Syrian Church; the Monastery of Saint Mary El-Sourian, a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert (Egypt); and others. Other manuscripts were acquired during military campaigns, such as the campaign by Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558), who was Holy Roman Emperor and was engaged in a war with the Ottoman Empire. In 1535, when he captured Tunis, manuscripts were taken to the Vatican Library. In 1623, the collection of Arabic, Syriac and Hebrew manuscripts by the French orientalist Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) was added to the Vatican holdings. 

A more systematic acquisition of Arabic and Syriac manuscripts was carried out by Giuseppe Simone Assemani (born in 1687 in Hasroun, Lebanon), librarian of the Vatican Library, who also compiled the first three volumes of the catalogue of the oriental collection: Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana in qua manuscriptos codices Syriacos, Arabicos, Persicos, Turcicos, Hebraicos, Samaritanos, Armenicos, Aethiopicos, Graecos, Aegyptiacos, Ibericos, et Malabaricos, jussu et munificentia Clementis XI Pontificis Maximi ex Oriente conquisitos, comparatos, et Bibliotecae Vaticanae addictos Recensuit, digessit, et genuina scripta a spuriis secrevit, addita singulorum auctorum vita, Joseph Simonius Assemanus, Syrus Maronita (Rome, 1719–1728).  More recently, the acquisition of Oriental manuscripts grew thanks to the librarians Giovanni Mercati (d. 1957) and Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant (1972).

The manuscripts of the Islamicate world at the Vatican Library cover a wide range of subjects, such as Qurʾān and Islamic sciences, literature, poetry, grammar, history, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, alchemy, etc. As expected, there are numerous manuscripts related to the history of Eastern Christianity, in particular within the Fondo Sbath. The earliest dated manuscript from the Islamicate world is Vat. Ar.310, Kitāb al-Bawl by Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān al-Isrāʾīlī, dated 346 AH (957 BC), also available in digital format from their website. Most manuscripts from the Islamicate world at the Vatican Library are dated between the 18th and 19th century. Many are decorated, illuminated, and preserve original bindings

When I visited the library, I had previously prepared a list of manuscripts that I wanted to consult, as found in the various catalogues available for the Vatican library’s collection of Arabic manuscripts. This is the best thing to do before going to the library, to save time for the manuscripts.

The Vatican Library has an online catalogue (Opac) for the following collections:

• Archives
• Manuscripts
• Coins & Medals
• Printed material
• Incunabula
• Visual material

For each of these collections, a selection of digitised material is available in a separate platform called “DigiVatLib”. The Opac catalogue is in sync with the digital material, and will redirect the user to the digital images hosted in the DigiVatLib platform if they are available for the item found in the search results. 

Reproduction of material is possible in various formats, for both personal use and publications. Costs are quite high. All information regarding reproduction costs can be found on the website by downloading the relevant form.

Research experience

In general, from my experience, the staff at the Vatican Library was very professional and ready to help, including the registry office, the reading rooms’ staff, and the specialised librarians and archivists. To some extent, I recognise the advantage of speaking Italian, but only as an easier tool of communication to explain what I needed to complete my research.

In terms of communications, prior to your visit, I still advise sending an email to introduce your work and requests, however it is easier to “sort things out” once you are there and talk directly to the people in person, explaining politely what you need (see list of contacts at the end of this post).

There are rules in the library (such as a maximum number of 5 manuscripts to consult per day). Reasonable requests will be definitely taken in consideration, if the library has enough staff available to provide for your “extra” requests and make exceptions to the rules. Officially (or by email), you will unlikely receive a response in regard to “extra” requests. However, on the day, if the library staff can help you, they will, unless the reading rooms are really busy.

Overall, with my experience working also in libraries, I think the Vatican Library staff was numerous and extremely efficient, in particular regarding the time required to retrieve sources from the depots and to answer readers’ queries. The staff was always polite and always ready to help me.

The rules for the safeguard of the manuscripts and other sources are strictly observed. No pens, no coats, no cases; only pencils, laptops. Manuscripts have to be consulted always by placing them on the wooden stands and cushions that are available for each seating place. Librarians will provide further aid if the manuscripts are particularly fragile. Numerous cameras are recording from multiple angles of the reading rooms, and there are always two to three librarians in each reading room, at the front and back.

Each department’s director has a desk in the correspondent reading room, and special requests would need to go through them.

Transport, Accommodation & Food

Travelling to Rome and Rome itself come at expensive costs. Accommodation is the most expensive matter. My colleague stayed in a monastery close to the Vatican which was not that expensive, but it was very basic, and for a longer period it would have paused an issue. I stayed far from the Vatican, in an area called EUR, but it took me about an hour to get with public transport to the Vatican, using the Metro.

Buses run also during the night, but you cannot rely on the timetable or the time that Google Maps tells you. The best option is to find an accommodation somewhere on the Metro A that is a bit outside the city centre for a long period of stay, or in a monastery or nunnery around the Vatican for short periods. Try to avoid areas not well connected via the Metro or you will get stuck in traffic every morning and evening on your commute to the Vatican.

Food as well can be very pricey if you eat in central Rome (and in particular around the Vatican). As a matter of fact, on the second day, I went for a slice of pizza and drinks with my colleague after leaving the library for the day in the evening, nearby the Vatican, and I made the mistake not to check the price of the food in advance. I am not going to reveal how much we ended up spending for three slices of pizza and two drinks, because it is too embarrassing considering that I am Italian and I should have known better. However, the food and drinks were really good!

The positive side of eating in Rome is that you will hardly eat bad food, at least! But please check in advance the price of the food, and if it is not stated clearly anywhere in the premises, expect to be overcharged.

If you avoid main roads, even central spots like the Vatican area have some exceptions to the rule, in particular if you go to restaurants called “trattoria”, which offer simple traditional food.

I follow a pescatarian diet (I don’t eat meat, but I do eat fish) and I did struggle a bit finding food that was either vegetarian or pescatarian. Vegan options are definitely rare in particular in traditional restaurants such as trattorias. Among the traditional vegetarian options: pasta cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) is the most traditional pasta dish, otherwise also the supplì (a fried rice ball stuffed with rice and other fillings) comes with vegetarian fillings as well, and of course pizza with vegetarian toppings is easy to find.

The vegan dish that is the most authentic dish of Rome is the “Carciofo alla Giudia” that is a fried artichoke which recipe originated in the Jewish community of Rome. You can find it well done everywhere in Rome, but if you want to pay extra for it, you can go to the trattorias at the Roman Ghetto (the Jewish area of Rome) and get the full authentic experience, which of course comes at a premium.

Opposite the Roman Ghetto, on the other side of the river, there is the area called “Trastevere”, that is best known for offering the best Aperitivo options (traditional snacks and drinks, that are consumed before having dinner later on). From the Vatican, you could walk for half an hour by the river, passing by Castel Sant’Angelo, and walking to Trastevere.

Rome, to me, is the most beautiful city in the world, and it is worth walking around the city centre if you have time. If you can do just one thing, after leaving the library, go to see the sunset from the Terrazza del Pincio, over Pizza del Popolo.

Contacts

Address:

Email contacts available through the Website at:

https://www.vaticanlibrary.va/home.php?pag=contatti_uffici

ARCHIVIST AND LIBRARIAN OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH

His Excellence Most Reverend

Msgr. José Tolentino de Mendonça

PREFECT

Msgr. Cesare Pasini

Telephone: +39/06698.79400

VICE PREFECT

Dr. Ambrogio M. Piazzoni

Telephone: +39/06698.79481

DIRECTOR, MANUSCRIPT DEPARTMENT

Dr. Claudia Montuschi

DIRECTOR, PRINTED BOOKS DEPARTMENT

Dr. Timothy Janz

DIRECTOR, NUMISMATIC DEPARTMENT

Dr. Eleonora Giampiccolo

PORTER’S LODGE

Telephone: +39/06698.79411

ADMISSIONS OFFICE

Telephone: +39/06698.79403

ACCESSIONS OFFICE

Telephone: +39/06698.79479

REPRODUCTIONS AND RIGHTS OFFICE

Telephone: +39/06698.79455 (for private study)

Telephone: +39/06698.79407 (for professional use)

SCHOOL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE

Telephone: +39/06698.79526

 

Dr Celeste Gianni is Research Associate in Arabic Manuscripts for the ERC funded project “Stories of Survival: Eastern Christianity in the Early Modern World”, at the Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Her research and work primarily deal with the history and development of libraries, book culture and the philosophy of classification of knowledge in the Middle East. She works with library collections and catalogues with a focus on Arabic manuscripts. She was awarded a Ph.D. in Near & Middle Eastern Studies by SOAS, University of London, with a thesis entitled: “Poetics of the Catalogue: library catalogues in the Arab provinces of the late Ottoman period” (May 2018).