Ancient Fund “Giuseppe Ghizzi”

The Ancient Fund “Giuseppe Ghizzi” represents the original nucleus of the Municipal Library of Castiglion Fiorentino. Created in 1873 following the suppression of the Religious Societies in 1866, it was established at the initiative of the Municipality itself "for the benefit of scholars and the instruction of youth". The Fund is named after its first librarian, Giuseppe Ghizzi, also a local historian and author of the first History of Castiglion Fiorentino.

The most prized manuscripts include a precious antiphonary from the 13th century, with rich illuminated decorations traceable to Arezzo history; and the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" by the Flemish cartographer and geographer Abraham Ortelius, a systematic mapping of the globe made through a collection of maps from around the world and drawn by various authors and first printed in 1570; or also the "Hortus Siccus Pisanus", a herbarium datable to the first half of the eighteenth century.

The collection numbers as many as 12,800 volumes and is now located in the Praetorian Palace. Currently, digitization of the most prestigious manuscripts and printed books is underway.

The Ancient Fund can be visited upon request to the Municipal Library staff.