About us

Welcome to Collezioni Digitali Classensi, the platform that brings together the digital collections of the historical, artistic, and bibliographic heritage preserved by the Classense Library for over five hundred years.
The digital objects on CDC – which are constantly updated– will let you explore a wide variety of historical collections that differ greatly in nature, purpose, and structure. You will discover how photographs, works of art, prints, maps, ancient books, and even scholar’s notes are all intertwined through places, people, and stories that our historical heritage can tell, to build an unexpected and often surprising path.
You can begin your exploration on the page dedicated to Classense Library, discovering its history, the places and the key figures who have turned it into an important cultural hub. Alternatively, you can start directly from our Digital Collections, discovering how they connect to the history of the library, the city of Ravenna, and, more broadly, to Italian and European history.
Browse our resources and find new paths. Because a library tells many stories, choose your
own.