This place was created for those who want to find out how much a person has known his nature and revealed the secrets of the universe. Perhaps even simple solitude here will help uncover questions that have not been answered for a long time. Or maybe behind one opened door there will be another, fraught with even more secrets and mysteries.
Such a “temple of knowledge” is the world-famous library in the Vatican. Seeing it for the first time, it is impossible not to freeze in admiration for the grandeur and splendor of its architecture. The floors are tiled in white and black checkerboard tiles, while the vaulted ceilings and columns are adorned with images of great saints. The premises of the library are divided into halls, there is a Vatican archive and “Biblioteca segreta”, which contains especially valuable and classified documents. Only the Pope has access to some of them. The Library also owns a laboratory where ancient documents and manuscripts are being restored, and the School of Librarians.
The interior of the building
The undoubted decoration of the interior of the building is a spiral staircase located under a glass dome. It is made according to the sketches of the architect Giuseppe Momo and consists of two spirals. One spiral goes up, the other goes down. Momo borrowed this idea from Michelangelo, adding a little of his style and grace to it. If you look at the stairs from top to bottom, then there is an illusion that the spirals are mobile.
This effect is achieved due to the fact that the lower steps have the usual dimensions, while the upper ones become flatter and wider. Reliable fences of the structure are made of bronze, and acanthus with the image of the symbols of power of the Pope are used as decor.
In 2007, the building of the Vatican Library was closed to visitors, as it began a complete restoration, completed in 2010. Leaving a unique interior design, the craftsmen strengthened the walls, replaced the base of the floors and installed an air conditioning system that maintains a constant temperature and humidity, which is a very important factor for the preservation of ancient manuscripts.
In addition to books, works of fine art are collected here, among which the Aldobrandine Wedding fresco occupies a special place. Until 1818, it adorned the room of Pope Clement VIII, and then was transferred to the Library, where it is still located.
History of the Library
The Vatican Library was officially founded on June 15, 1475. It was on this day that Pope Sixtus IV legalized its existence with his personal decree. But by that time, his predecessors, starting from the fourth century AD, had already collected a significant collection of manuscripts, manuscripts and scientific works, amounting to more than one and a half thousand copies. The library was constantly replenished with books purchased with papal nuncios, as well as donated by European museums and owners of private collections.
Many exhibits were so touched by time that they had to be restored and rewritten. It is thanks to the painstaking work of scribes that ancient philosophical treatises, scriptures, classical works of Arabic, Latin, Hebrew, Latin and other cultures, as well as works on jurisprudence, art, music, history, and so on have survived to this day.
The collection of books replenished most rapidly in the seventeenth century after Pope Paul V announced the creation of an archive to which royal and private collections could be transferred. These then were the Urbino and Heidelberg libraries, and in the nineteenth century they were also joined by the collections of the books of Count Cicogniard and a cardinal named Angelo May, supplemented by his own manuscripts.
In the next century, this tradition continued, and the collections of Enrico Cerulli, Ferraioli, Tammaro de Marini and the Chigi library appeared in the Vatican Library.
To date, the number of exhibits of the Vatican Library is simply amazing. It contains more than one and a half million printed publications, 150 thousand handwritten books, 8300 copies of early printed books. The number of engravings that were collected by the ministers of this institution is one hundred thousand copies. In addition, there is a hall in which you can see more than three hundred thousand coins and medals from various eras and countries.
Myths and mysteries of the Apostolic Library
Since the presented Library contains archives, access to which is completely closed, hypotheses are expressed about the existence of certain works by Leonardo da Vinci that can dispel the theories and dogmas of the Catholic Church. We will not argue about what the church and religion are worth, the foundations of which can be shaken by one person with just one of his manuscripts, but the fact of the existence of such a work has not yet been confirmed, but also not dispelled.
It is known for certain that the archives of the Vatican Library contain manuscripts of the Toltec Indians, which allegedly confirm the visit of alien creatures to earth many centuries ago.
There is a theory according to which the vault contains the work of the mysterious alchemist Count Cagliostro, who invented the elixir of rejuvenation of the body and regeneration of its systems. According to information that has come down to our time, the whole process takes place within forty days, after which the skin, hair, teeth, epithelium of the mucous membranes and intestines are completely renewed. This can be believed, since in India there is a similar method, using which the Hindu Tapasviji lived for 185 years, which is an officially confirmed fact.
According to another legend, the original of the first Bible is hidden in the Vatican Library, containing the true truth about God, religiosity and the purpose of man's coming to this earth.
Visit to the Vatican Library
The number of visitors per day is strictly limited to 150 people only. There is a special department at the library secretariat that considers applications for admission to archival funds. Most often they are provided to scientists, professors and university students working on dissertations.
It is strictly forbidden to take any books or documents out of the territory of the Library. For security reasons, an electronic chip is sewn into each copy, the radio signal of which can be tracked and its location can be determined.
For security purposes, the premises of the Vatican Library are equipped with video surveillance, fire safety and alarm systems. The wall surfaces are treated with refractory materials that can hold back the spread of fire for a long time.
Perhaps it will seem unfair to someone that access to documents that reveal the great secrets of humanity is closed to this same humanity. But do not be so categorical. After all, the sages say that the teacher will come only when the student is ready. Therefore, improve your mind, look for answers to questions, move only forward and upward in your knowledge, and then the “Great Vatican Teacher” will open its doors and secrets before you.