Scuola Normale, inauguration of the east wing of the Library in the Palazzo della Canonica

Today the inauguration of the new premises and the presentation of the works by the Construction and Maintenance area of ​​the Scuola Normale. The portion of the Palazzo della Canonica subjected to renovation, restoration and new furnishings includes approximately 1400 square meters, spread over three floors of the building granted to the School by the Tuscany Region, to which are added 400 of the portion on the ground floor already restored for the science library, inaugurated in 2016. The overall investment, between works already carried out and those just completed, is approximately 8 million euros, partly co-financed by the Ministry of University and Research.

This is an important stage in the long journey undertaken by the Scuola Normale to increase the spaces to be dedicated to the expansion of its Library, which houses a heritage of over one million volumes in the fields of humanities, sciences and political-social sciences with around seventy personal collections including private and author’s libraries, in some cases accompanied by archives belonging to personalities of Italian and international culture and research. The newly renovated wing of the Rectory, for example, will host the Onofrio Nicastro, Arturo Codignola and Ettore Passerin d’Entrèves funds.

The renovation, carried out by the Construction and Maintenance area, brought to light and enhanced the history of the property, a cluster of medieval buildings that Giorgio Vasari wanted to recompose in a single location as the residence of the clergy of the Order of the Knights of Saint Stephen, founded in 1561 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I dei Medici to combat the Turkish raids on the Mediterranean. Subsequently destined for the Civil Engineering Department, as a residence for the clergy of the national Church, for regional offices (such as that for the protection of waters and territory and for the Civil Engineering Department of Pisa) and for some of the Ministry of Infrastructures, the Palace is judged by the Superintendency to be a work of national historical and artistic interest.

The agreement with the Tuscany Region for the transfer of a large part of the building to the Scuola Normale dates back to 2007, with a fifty-year concession which materialized in January 2012. Since then it has first welcomed laboratories and since 2016 only the Library. The redevelopment project is part of the ambitious program to create one of the most important and significant direct access libraries in Italy, due to the value and specialization of its book heritage hosted in Pisa also in the Palazzo dell’Orologio, della Carovana, del Capitano, with more than 50 thousand annual visits in 2025.

The inauguration took place with the director of the Scuola Normale, Alessandro Schiesaro, the former director within whose mandate the works began Luigi Ambrosio, and representatives of the local institutions including the councilor of the Municipality of Pisa Virginia Mancini. The head of the Library Enrico Martellini, the president of the scientific committee of the Library Francesco Caglioti and the general secretary of the Normale Alessia Macchia also spoke.