The historical Classense Library, lies within the ancient Camaldolese Abbey, the construction of which started in 1512, after the “French pillage” and the moving of the monks from Classe to Ravenna. For three centuries the Abbey underwent several enlargements thus becoming one of the most important complexes of the Camaldolese Order. In 1803 it became a municipal library and nowadays it is one of the major public and preservation libraries in Emilia Romagna. We can still see the ancient “Library” founded by the abbot Pietro Canneti in 1707.
The complex of ancient Camaldolesi Abbey depicted in plan and elevation from the north toward the south designed by Gaetano Savini in 1903 – Archivio Biblioteca Classense, Ravenna
The entrance cloister – Baroque facade by Giuseppe Antonio Soratini (1682-1762)
Refectory (or Dante Hall) with a representation of the wedding at Cana, by Luca Longhi (1507-1590 – Foto Biblioteca Classense
Luca Longhi. the wedding at Cana – Oil on wall 450×800 – I Longhi – Angelo Longo Editore
Sala Muratori, former sacristy, decorated by Cesare Pronti (1626-1708); painting “The Raising of Lazarus” by Francesco Zaganelli (1465-1532) – Foto Biblioteca Classense
The great cloister built between 1611 and 1620 to a design by Giulio Morelli; elegant well designed in the early ‘700 by Domenico Barbiani (1714-1777) – Foto Biblioteca Classense
The atrium of access to the Aula Magna – Foto Biblioteca Classense
The Aula Magna, built between the seventeenth and eighteenth century by Abbot Pietro Canneti (1659-1730) designed by Giuseppe Antonio Soratini; frescoes and paintings by Francesco Mancini (1679-1758) – Foto Biblioteca Classense
Aula Magna – Francesco Mancini. The Camaldolesi Monk Graziano offers the book of Canons to Justice raised above the clouds, while Pope Gregory IX contemplates the scene – Ravenna Segreta – Angelo Longo Editore
Aula magna – The vault frescoes by Francesco Mancini with The Triumph of Divine Wisdom – Ravenna Segreta – Angelo Longo Editore
Hall of Science and Arts, neoclassical work by Camillo Morigia (1744-1795) – Foto Biblioteca Classense
