The Malatestiana Library

Malatesta Novello had this library built and gave it to the town rather than to a religious house, which made it the first civic library in Europe, open to anyone who came to read. It was built between 1447 and 1452, opened in 1454 and has not been altered since: a hall of three aisles under a low vault, with the plutei, the sloped reading desks, in rows down both sides and the manuscripts still chained to them. Nothing has been moved out, dispersed or rebound on any scale. That combination, the building, the furniture and the books surviving together, makes it the only humanist library anywhere to have come through complete.

History

From 1239, when a Malatesta became podestà of Rimini, the family ruled lands on either side of the Rubicon for two and a half centuries. A studium had existed in the convent of San Francesco in Cesena since the 14th century, and the library was purpose-built between 1447 and 1452 and opened in 1454 (Wikipedia, Malatestiana Library).

Highlights

• The chained manuscripts - still attached to the desks they were read at.
• The plutei - the original sloped desks and benches, in rows down the hall.
• Matteo Nuti's hall - three aisles, slim columns and a low vault, unchanged since 1454.
• The entrance door - carved walnut, with its original lock.

When to go

Open all year with a long break over the middle of the day and shorter hours out of season, so check before travelling. Numbers inside are capped and a custodian takes small groups in at intervals. Cesena is quiet and the library is rarely busy, except when school parties come through in term time.

Things to know

It is one room, and half an hour covers it unless manuscripts are your subject. Visits are supervised, you follow a fixed route and you handle nothing. The hours are short and change with the season, which catches people out. Cesena has little else on this level, so the trip is made for this alone.

Nearby

The Malatesta fortress stands above the town; Ravenna is about an hour north.

Key facts