The Holy Father signed a document ordering the construction of a new building inside the Vatican to expand the Apostolic Library and Archives.
The Vatican will soon see the construction of a brand new building intended to expand the Vatican Apostolic Library (BAV) and the Vatican Apostolic Archives. During a visit to the 15th-century institution on the morning of Monday, September 14, 2026, Leo XIV signed a chirograph (a papal legal document) ordering the construction project. The expansion aims to meet the growing needs of the bibliographic heritage housed in the world’s smallest state.
In the document, the Holy Father noted that there has been a “considerable increase over recent decades in the Holy See’s bibliographical holdings.” This has made expanding the Vatican Apostolic Archives and the Vatican Apostolic Library a necessity. Today, the centuries-old institution houses some 80,000 manuscripts and nearly 2 million printed works.
“A library is a living place that never stops growing,” Father Giacomo Cardinali, the library’s vice-prefect, told I.MEDIA. “We receive many donations from bibliophiles and collectors, to such a point that we already reached the saturation level four years ago, in 2022.”
Pope Francis had previously established a storage facility to remedy the lack of space. He situated this expansion in an extraterritorial zone of the Holy See within the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary, located about 3 miles away in the historic center of Rome. However, this solution presented certain limitations, particularly regarding practicality and conservation.
A new location within the Leonine walls
Now, Pope Leo XIV announced that “new possibilities have arisen for creating new spaces within the territory of the Vatican City State.”
“We studied the project at length in consultation with the Pope and the Governorate,” Father Cardinali explained. “We had to identify a location inside the Leonine walls, in order to better guarantee the security of the books, but also to offer better working conditions for researchers,” the vice-prefect said. Ultimately, the so-called “Fontana dell’Autoparco” (“Fountain of the Parking Lot”) and its surroundings were allocated to the library.
This parking area includes a garden with a fountain and sits just in front of the library. The new location will allow for the construction of a building that connects directly to the current premises. “Doing so will prevent having to move the books, better protecting them against water and temperature variations,” Father Cardinali pointed out.
Modern architectural principles
For this real estate project, which will alter the urban landscape of the small state, the Pontiff requested the application of "the most modern architectural and technological principles.” The exact surface area of the future edifice is not yet known, especially since part of the structure will be designated for state services.
The library will need to establish a foundation to gather the necessary resources to relocate the parking lot and fund the construction. Because Vatican City is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the multilateral organization might need to validate the project, as is the case for the new Pontifical Swiss Guard barracks.
The start and completion dates for the work remain undetermined. “We’re only starting, but this allows us to have the freedom to look towards the future and to continue to enlarge the collections,” the vice-prefect noted.
