This is the vatican s secret archive it s contents are a mystery and closely guarded against the prying eyes of the outside world. Nobody knows how many documents there are. Underneath a car park besides the vatican library are 52 miles of shelves housing rare documents some dating back as early as the 8th century.
Nearly four centuries came to pass before rome would hand over control of the scrolls to the church in 463 a d the source. The scrolls were uncovered by the romans during siege of jerusalem and the subsequent destruction of the temple in 70 a d. A source inside the vatican secret archives told sky news that the church first became aware of the scrolls existence in the fifth century.
It doesn t take a lot of effort to find people claiming the. The name itself is evocative of mystery and many theories have naturally arisen about what might be held among the 53 miles of shelves and 12 centuries worth of documents only available to a select few. When looking at the secrets held within vatican city perhaps the most logical place to start is the vatican secret archives.
Yet as far as the general public knows the archives contain historical documents spanning at least 12 centuries including original letters written by michelangelo documents relating to expenditure. The vatican s secret archives aka archivum secretum apostolicum vaticanum are subject to wild conspiracy theories and for good reason with a name like that who wouldn t speculate. Documents relating to expenditure correspondence and even a entreaty written on birch bark.
That is a ridiculous amount of archives which is being hidden from the public eyes. Theories suggest that the 85 km long shelves of the archives contains more that some private letters and records of popes. Are the vatican city archives any secret.
Pope francis has renamed the priceless archives which include letters. The vatican secret archives containing millions of documents spanning 12 centuries are no longer officially secret. But that openness belies a few real secrets still.
And in 2012 the vatican secret archives put on a public exhibition of some of its most important documents in celebration of its 400th birthday.
Vatican city hidden documents. In 2012 in celebration of the 400 th anniversary of the archives 100 documents were made available for the public to see in an exhibit called lux in arcana. Lux in arcana the vatican secret archives reveals itself. Some of the 50 miles of bookshelves in the vatican secret archive photo. Documents from the formerly secret vatican archive show the attempts to interfere in the conclave that elected pius xii.
He is too political a figure and inclined to have. The vatican apostolic archive latin. Archivio apostolico vaticano known until october 2019 as the vatican secret archive is the central repository in the vatican city of all acts promulgated by the holy see the pope as sovereign of vatican city owns the material held in the archive until his death or resignation with ownership passing to his.
Archivio apostolico vaticano known until october 2019 as the vatican secret archive is the central repository in the vatican city of all acts promulgated by the holy see the pope as sovereign of vatican city owns the material held in the archive until his death or resignation with ownership passing to his. The vatican apostolic archive latin. He is too political a figure and inclined to have.
Documents from the formerly secret vatican archive show the attempts to interfere in the conclave that elected pius xii. Some of the 50 miles of bookshelves in the vatican secret archive photo. Lux in arcana the vatican secret archives reveals itself.
In 2012 in celebration of the 400 th anniversary of the archives 100 documents were made available for the public to see in an exhibit called lux in arcana.
