Documentary heritage

The University of Padua’s book and documentary heritage reflects its long history and the breadth of its teaching and research disciplines.

The University's libraries collect, manage and provide access to almost two million volumes, including highly specialised books and scholarly journals. They also preserve an extensive cartographic collection, available through the MapFly portal, and more than 30,000 rare books, which are the focus of ongoing research, preservation and conservation activities.

Part of this remarkable heritage has been digitised and made available online through Phaidra, the University's platform for the long-term preservation of digital objects and collections. Rare books, manuscripts, photographs, wall charts, maps, museum objects, archival records and parchments can be freely searched and explored through high-resolution images.

Alongside these collections, the University offers an ever-expanding range of digital resources, accessible through GalileoDiscovery. E-books, electronic scholarly journals, subject-specific databases and multimedia resources are available either through open access or via the University's institutional subscriptions.

The libraries also hold numerous special collections: materials of outstanding historical, cultural and scholarly significance, acquired over time through donations, bequests and institutional agreements, which further enrich the University's library and documentary heritage.