Inaugurated on May 22, 1998, the library has been housed since 2018 within the premises of the Protestant Cultural Center, in a historic building on Via Tasso that, during the Renaissance, was the city's neighborhood with the highest concentration of Waldensians.
The library's collection is naturally specialized, containing 5000 volumes dating from the 1700s to the contemporary era, all related to Protestant character and culture. The sectors cover a wide range: from history to biblical exegesis, theology to literature, philosophy to politics, ethics to law, and education.
The heart of the collection consists of books from the Evangelical Christian Community of Bergamo. Particularly valuable are the core of Italian and foreign biblical editions (18th-19th centuries) and the collection of first Italian editions of Reformed texts.
The library is open to the public for loans and on-site consultation. Since September 2012, it has been part of the National Library Service in the Lombard Regional Pole. It is the ideal place to learn about Protestant history, not only in Bergamo but also in Europe, and to engage in a discussion without confessional or cultural limits.
The facility also houses the archive of documents produced by the Waldensian community in Bergamo from 1805 to 2002. Before recent inventorying, the folders were kept in an cabinet and a box according to the original management methods, which were studied. This also allowed verifying the reliability of the instruments accompanying the archive drafted from 1846 onwards.
Alongside this significant documentary body is all the paperwork produced by the administrative offices of the community, from 1903 to the present.
The library is named after Girolamo Zanchi, the Bergamasco scholar who best embodies the cultural vocation of the place. Born in Alzano Lombardo in 1516, he was an internationally influential Protestant theologian, known for his numerous Aristotelian-inspired writings and erudition, combined with a keen interest in the practical problems of the Church.
The Protestant Cultural Center oversees the library and archive, supervising their consultation on behalf of the Evangelical Christian Community of Bergamo. Access is granted to all Italian and foreign citizens, by appointment.
Inaugurated on May 22, 1998, the library has been housed since 2018 within the premises of the Protestant Cultural Center, in a historic building on Via Tasso that, during the Renaissance, was the city's neighborhood with the highest concentration of Waldensians.
The library's collection is naturally specialized, containing 5000 volumes dating from the 1700s to the contemporary era, all related to Protestant character and culture. The sectors cover a wide range: from history to biblical exegesis, theology to literature, philosophy to politics, ethics to law, and education.
The heart of the collection consists of books from the Evangelical Christian Community of Bergamo. Particularly valuable are the core of Italian and foreign biblical editions (18th-19th centuries) and the collection of first Italian editions of Reformed texts.
The library is open to the public for loans and on-site consultation. Since September 2012, it has been part of the National Library Service in the Lombard Regional Pole. It is the ideal place to learn about Protestant history, not only in Bergamo but also in Europe, and to engage in a discussion without confessional or cultural limits.
The facility also houses the archive of documents produced by the Waldensian community in Bergamo from 1805 to 2002. Before recent inventorying, the folders were kept in an cabinet and a box according to the original management methods, which were studied. This also allowed verifying the reliability of the instruments accompanying the archive drafted from 1846 onwards.
Alongside this significant documentary body is all the paperwork produced by the administrative offices of the community, from 1903 to the present.
The library is named after Girolamo Zanchi, the Bergamasco scholar who best embodies the cultural vocation of the place. Born in Alzano Lombardo in 1516, he was an internationally influential Protestant theologian, known for his numerous Aristotelian-inspired writings and erudition, combined with a keen interest in the practical problems of the Church.
The Protestant Cultural Center oversees the library and archive, supervising their consultation on behalf of the Evangelical Christian Community of Bergamo. Access is granted to all Italian and foreign citizens, by appointment.
