The monumental and astoundingly beautiful Vatican Library, with its Sistine Hall shown in this picture, has reopened after three years of restoration and a new exhibition is taking place to honour the event.
The exhibition, called ‘Conoscere la Biblioteca Vaticana’ or ‘Getting to know the Vatican library’ will run from November 11 to the end of January.
An event in which parts of the library generally closed to students and the public will be opened via multimedia connection will also take place from November 11 to 13 in the form of a study convention.
The reopening of the Vatican libraries is a much anticipated event in the echelons of the world’s academia.
The library itself has an astonishing number of texts and manuscripts with 600,000 texts, 80,000 manuscripts, 100,000 archives and many other precious items that make up papal and world history.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the library on December 18 as part of the official celebrations of its reopening.
For more information on the exhibitions and visiting times, see the Vatican Library website.