17 July 2007

Vatican Library closes for 3 years

The Vatican Library, which is used by academics and other researchers from the world over, has closed for urgent repairs, and is not due to reopen until September 2010. The library has had to close because of structural damage that was discovered in one of its wings.

The library is home to over 1.5 million printed books and 150,000 manuscripts, including the Codex Vaticanus, a copy of the Bible dating back to the 4th century.

This is the first time since the 15th century that the library will be closed for an extended period of time. Despite the closure, however, scholars will be able to request microfilms of photocopies of documents they require, according to Ambrogio Piazzoni, deputy head of the library (BBC).

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