The Chigiana library

The fourth floor of Palazzo Chigi is home to an antique library, which was commissioned by Prince Agostino Chigi and built at the end of the 17th century by architect Giovan Battista Contini. The Chigiana Library is situated in the corner of the building between Via dell’Impresa and Vicolo dello Sdrucciolo, and is the only room in the palace that still serves its original purpose. 

Columns of wooden shelving run all around the room, with a balcony half way up providing access to the upper level; a remarkable example of 17th century woodwork that was very well suited to the precious collection of codes, manuscripts and rare books held here.

The library was in fact home to the book collection belonging to Fabio Chigi, who became Pope Alexander VII - a humanist and passionate bibliophile.  
The collection consisted of around 26,000 printed historical, literary and ecclesiastical works from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which came from private collections belonging to scholars who were friends of his at the time, although most were donated and purchased during trips in Italy and Germany. Mussolini donated the precious collection to the Pope in 1923, in order to soften the latter’s position regarding his regime. 
After the Italian State transferred the original book collection to the Vatican Library in 1923, the room’s antique shelves now hold a modern collection dedicated to Government activitie

The most recent restoration work was completed in 2008 .