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Video: Secrets of the Vatican Library: What 85 kilometers of classified shelves keep
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The smallest state in the world keeps the largest collection of human knowledge - in the Vatican Apostolic Library today there are about 1,600,000 printed books, 150,000 manuscripts, as well as engravings, geographical maps, coins - all of this is of great, invaluable importance for world culture. Some part of the collection is hidden from anyone's eyes and kept out of reach. What do the Vatican archives hide?
Library creation
The Vatican State, located on the territory of Rome, itself has unique characteristics. For example, because of its small territory, the embassies of many countries are located outside the Vatican, in Rome - including the Italian embassy, which, it turns out, is located on the territory of its own capital. Most of the Vatican's revenues are donations, and the state is ruled solely by the Pope, who is the successor of the first Roman bishop, the Apostle Peter. His grave, according to legend, is located in the Vatican.
The first archives of the Vatican - in the form of scrolls, handwritten liturgical books - began to be collected since the 4th century, gradually the library grew, and by the fourteenth century it already contained 643 valuable manuscripts. The foundation date of the modern Vatican Library is considered to be 1475, when the corresponding bull of Pope Sixtus IV was issued. At that time, the collection included 2,527 pieces. In 1587, under the leadership of Pope Sixtus V, the construction of a separate building for the library began.
Secret archive
In the early 17th century, a separate building was built to house the Secret Archives. Access to this part of the library was limited - it remains so at the present time, no visitors can be admitted to a number of documents.
The total length of shelves with documents is 85 kilometers. The archive contains documents of popes and their representatives, individual families, as well as the heritage of monasteries, orders, abbeys and many manuscripts of invaluable historical value.
The very existence of the secret archive has given rise to a lot of speculation about the artifacts that may be stored there. Allegedly, the walls of the library hide the first Bible, secret writings of Masons, evidence of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. The fantasies of the writers are attributed to the contents of the secret archive as documents refuting church dogmas, and those that confirm them.
Every day, the library building is visited by about 150 scientists and specialists, and before receiving permission to work with the archives, they are subjected to the most thorough checks. The Vatican Library is considered one of the most heavily guarded sites in the world.
Declassification of archives
In 2012, some unique documents from the Secret Archives were presented to the public at the Lux in Arkana exhibition. Among the exhibits were, in particular, the protocol of the interrogation of Galileo Galilei, the sentence passed by Giordano Bruno, the suicide letter of Queen Marie Antoinette …
The documents exposed to the public are amazing, but the search for an answer to the question - what do closed archives hide from the world becomes even more exciting?
The Vatican Library has preserved the wisdom of mankind for centuries and, obviously, will keep it in the future.
And knowledgeable people talk about 10 "devilish" things that can be kept in the closed archives of the Vatican … Access to the archives, which dates back to 1611, has always been limited, and even today only Vatican officials and scholars are allowed inside.
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