In the long eastern wing of Palazzo Reale, formerly the Festivities Wing, the Vittorio Emanuele III National Library has been housed since 1923, named after the king who donated the Neapolitan palace to the state, later designating it for cultural purposes. Following the recommendation of the Minister of Public Education, Benedetto Croce, it was decided to relocate the library—previously confined to the Royal Studies Palace—to Palazzo Reale. The move to the northeast wing, which had previously been occupied by the royal princes’ apartments, was completed in 1927, the year in which the library was inaugurated.
Today, the former ballrooms and private royal chambers house the library’s prestigious collections: books, maps, rare plans and drawings, incunabula and manuscripts, letters, the Biblioteca Palatina, the Brancacciana, the Lucchesi Palli, the Officina dei Papiri Ercolanesi, the manuscripts of Leopardi, and other significant collections on literature, music, art, and architecture. These treasures make the National Library one of the most important in Italy.
National Library Link > http://www.bnnonline.it/