Archival
The archival heritage that reflects the events, through the centuries, of the University of Padua is organized in the Historical Archive, a section of the General Archive of the University.
The documentary sources dating back to 1806 constitute the Ancient Archive: it contains the funds from the various academic institutions, endowed with greater or lesser autonomy, which formed the University until the end of the eighteenth century.
The year 1806 marks the watershed between two historical phases in the structure of the University and, consequently, in its archival collections. With the fall of the Republic of Venice and the passage of Veneto under French and Austrian domination, the University, becoming part of a state university system, passed to a centralized and hierarchical structure. On the archival level, this involves the transition from a multiplicity of sources (the different entities that contributed to the traditional university system) to a modern archive, a mirror of the different authorities, bodies, and offices of the new University.
A decisive impetus for the arrangement of the Ancient Archives came in 1893 from Giuseppe Giomo, of the State Archives of Venice, to whom we owe a fundamental inventory of the existing material. The Ancient Archives are currently housed in Palazzo Bo.
The post-1806 collections constitute the Nineteenth-Century Archive, which includes documents from 1807 to 1900, and the Twentieth Century Archive, with documents dating from 1901 to 1960.
CONSULTATION
A part of the inventories of our university's enormous archival heritage can be consulted online.
In addition, it is possible to consult the materials in the Study Room of the University Historical Archives in Palazzo del Bo
The study room, located on the 3rd floor of the Palazzo del Bo (Rectorate side) is open from Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm.
Given the limited number of places available, access is by appointment, by writing to archiviostorico@unipd.it, and also proposing any possible dates.
Considering that most of the documentation is kept outside the campus, it is advisable to indicate in the appointment request also what you want to consult or the topic, in order to guarantee the availability of what is required for the agreed date.
Document Management Office
via 8 Febbraio 2, 35122 Padova
tel. 049 8273527 - fax 049 8273529
archivio@unipd.it
Time:
Monday to Friday: 9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday also 3.00 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.