Ambrozianskaya library - Library in Milan , founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo and the Archbishop . Named for the father of the church of St. Ambrose , bishop and patron saint of Milan.
The construction began in 1603, the library was open to the public December 8, 1609 ( Bodleian Library , after which opened in Oxford in 1602, is the second public library in Europe). The earliest manuscripts were transferred to Milan from a provincial monastery of St. . Columban .When the library opened a printing house, was located here also a school of classical languages . In addition to the library of the Academy and entered Pinacoteca , founded by the same Federico Borromeo.
During the Second World War, the library building was damaged, restored in 1952 , the new restoration work took place in 1990-1997 .
The library has 12 manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci, 12 000 paintings by European artists XIV-XIX centuries , illuminated edition of the Iliad (Ilia Picta, V in . ) Virgil with illustrations by Simone Martini and Petrarch's marginalia , and many other cultural values .
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