Access for scholars

Visitors visiting the Santa Croce complex for study purposes are admitted free of charge on condition that they apply by e-mail to segreteria@santacroceopera.it at least two weeks in advance of their intended date of visit, specifying the subject and purpose of their research and attaching documentation or a letter from their referent institution attesting to their project. Students are also requested to provide a letter of presentation from their academic supervisor.

Authorisation admits the holder free of charge on a temporary pass whose validity varies according to the terms agreed with Opera di Santa Croce's management.

The Opera di Santa Croce's historical archive is a private archive open to the public and may be visited, by prior appointment only, between 9 am and 5 pm from Monday to Friday.
Applications should be addressed to archivio@santacroceopera.it, specifying both the subject and the purpose of the research which the applicant intends to pursue. Scholars and faculty are admitted without any additional formalities, while students of all levels must provide a letter of presentation from their academic supervisor.

Regulations governing consultation of material in the historical archive:

• Researchers must complete a consultation form and sign the admissions register every time they are granted access to documentation.
• Documentation may be consulted only on the premises of the Opera di Santa Croce, and researchers are permitted to consult only one item at a time.
• It is strictly forbidden at all times to cause any form of disturbance, to speak out loud, to use a mobile phone or inappropriate equipment or material, or to eat or drink in the consultation room. Researchers may bring one small bottle of water into the room.
• Researchers may not alter the internal order of files or loose sheets in the material they consult, or damage the documents in any way.
• Researchers may not lean or rest on the items they are studying or touch ink or other pen or brush strokes with their fingers or with any object liable to leave a mark.
• Researchers may not use pens or felt-tip pens or pencils. They may use lead pencils and laptop computers.
• Researchers must give the Opera di Santa Croce a copy of any printed work which they have used the Opera's archive material to draft.

Visitors to the Santa Croce complex for study purposes should use the entrance at no. 16, Piazza Santa Croce (first cloister), showing their credentials to the staff on duty who will admit them to the historical archive.