Named after St. Mark, the saint patron of Venice, this library is among the most important ones in the world. It contains an immense number of medieval manuscripts. The collection of this library includes many rare books and documents (some of them dating back to the early 16th century) representing one of the greatest classical text collections in the world.
The library was built in the 1550's, but the documents and books belonged to it way before that. Many scholars contributed to the assembly of the most important works of writing of that time, and in the 18th century, the library had to own at least one copy of every book issued in Venice.
The building itself is built in Renaissance style, decorated by various artists, such as Titian, Alessandro Vittoria, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and others. The interior is adorned with various frescoes and it makes for a pleasant walk when you're sightseeing this place.
If you want to, you can join one of the guided tours which are organised in English and Italian every other Sunday. You have to make a reservation in advance through the official website.
It's between the ferry stops S. Marco (lines 2 and 10), and S. Zaccaria (line 1).
Mon - Fri: 8 am - 7 pm
Sat, Dec 24 and 31: 8 am - 1:30 pm
Free, but the minimum age to see the modern printed works is 16, and 18 if you want to see the ancient manuscripts.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana
Official Website https://marciana.venezia.sbn.it/
Twitter https://twitter.com/bibliomarciana
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BibliotecaMarciana
Email biblioteca@marciana.venezia.sbn.it
Phone +39 041 2407211
Address Piazzetta San Marco 7, 30124 Venice, Italy
Coordinates 45°26'0.338" N 12°20'21.165" E
