Biblioteca Ambrosiana

The Biblioteca Ambrosiana stands at the centre of Milan's cultural and intellectual life, occupying a palazzo in the Piazza Pio XI just a short walk from the Duomo. Founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo in the early seventeenth century, it was among the first libraries in Europe to open its collections to the public, and it remains one of the most significant repositories of manuscripts, drawings, and printed books on the continent. Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, the largest surviving collection of his drawings and writings, is held here.

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the picture gallery housed within the same complex, displays works by Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, and Bruegel alongside the Leonardo holdings. Visitors can also explore the Cripta San Sepolcro, a crypt of early Christian origin that lies beneath the adjacent church and connects the site to Milan's medieval and Roman layers. Together these spaces make the Ambrosiana one of the most layered cultural institutions in northern Italy, where art, scholarship, and history occupy the same ancient walls.