Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria

More than a million books

Address:

Piazza Carlo Alberto, 3 - Fiume Po
10123 - Centre
Turin

Nearest Bus or Train:

15

Open Hours:

M, W, F, Sa 8:30a-1:30p; Tu, Th 8:30a-6:30p

The National University Library faces onto the splendid piazza Carlo Alberto. The building, built between 1959-73, was designed by Pasquale Carbonara, Italo Insolera, Aldo Laviotti and Antonio Quistelli. The origins of the collection date from 1723 when King Vittorio Amedeo II decided to combine the 4000 texts in the Civic Library and the 10,000 in ducal collections with the university library. Since then, the collection has grown enormously although it has suffered heavy losses over the years. A fire, for example, at the start of the 20th c. spelt the end for many texts. Today the collection contains about a million texts.

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