Verona - It was 12:33 a.m. on 4 January 1945 when an Allied air raid hit and destroyed the Biblioteca Capitolare. The bomb fell right in the centre of the building and exploded inside after piercing the roof. Monsignor Giuseppe Turrini, who was the prefect of the Capitolare at the time and was responsible for the heroic rescue of the most precious volumes, recalls the event in his diaries. Starting from his accounts, on Saturday 4 January 2025, at 3.30 p.m., on the 80th anniversary of the bombing, the Chapter Library is organising a special thematic meeting.

THE SAVAGE 

Disturbed by the heavy and continuous air raids by the Allies, Monsignor Giuseppe Turrini decided to take action to protect the library's collections, selecting the most precious volumes and looking for a shelter where they could be kept safe from the bombing. After attempting to reinforce the structure of the library itself and creating an initial hiding place in the hollows of the cathedral walls, which, however, proved too small for the more than five thousand books selected, the need to seek shelter outside the city became evident. The choice fell on the parsonage in the small village of Erbezzo, in the Lessini mountains, which Turrini knew very well, as he had often spent his summer holidays there.

FROM DESTRUCTION TO REBIRTH

A different fate befell the books that remained in the library. Following the bombing on 4 January 1945, the recovery of the surviving volumes was long and painful, made even more complex by the danger of new air raids, the risk of collapse of the damaged building and the freshly fallen snow, which first melted and then solidified due to the temperatures, turning the books into blocks of ice. The volumes, partly scarred and torn by bomb shrapnel, were later relocated to the monumental hall, which was immediately rebuilt after the war. 

On the first anniversary of the bombing, 4 January 1946, it was therefore possible to lay the foundation stone for the reconstruction: the new monumental hall was completed in 33 months and reopened on 28 September 1948. 

To register for the meeting or request information, call 331 5946961 or write an e-mail to info@bibliotecacapitolare.it