It was Albano Sorbelli, student of Giosuè Carducci and longtime director of the Biblioteca dell’Archiginnasio, who oversaw the reorganization of the library and archives, and faithfully restored the living environment of the poet.
The building of Casa Carducci, dating back to the 1500s, was for at least two centuries a place of worship for the Confraternita di Santa Maria della Pietà detta del Piombo. In 1798, following the Napoleonic suppressions, the premises were converted into residences. From 1890, Carducci lived here; he had been in Bologna since 1860, the year he was called to teach Italian Literature at the University.
Purchased while still inhabited by the poet by Queen Margherita — specifically to prevent the cultural heritage he had amassed over the years from being lost — the house was donated to the City of Bologna shortly after Carducci’s death in 1907.
Decorated in the style typical of late 19th-century bourgeois homes, the apartment retains its original layout. The main feature is the library, containing forty thousand volumes, including rare editions, eight hundred and eighty sixteenth-century prints, and annotated texts by Carducci himself. The books, catalogued and arranged by the poet by author or subject, are distributed over six rooms: foreign authors in the entrance hall; 18th- and 19th-century Italian literature and works on the Risorgimento in the second room; in the study, around the worktable and on the walls, there are Dante editions, Latin classics, and reference books. Books are also found in the bedroom and dining room.
The four cabinets in the hallway contain archival materials, including correspondence and manuscripts. Throughout the various rooms, visitors can see busts and portraits of Carducci. Next to the house, leaning against the city walls, is the memorial garden, marked by the monument dedicated to Carducci.
Sculpted in Carrara white marble by Leonardo Bistolfi, the monument was unveiled in 1928: four panels depicting complex allegories of Carducci’s literary achievements and the historic events of the Risorgimento form the backdrop to a statue of the poet, seated in a thoughtful pose.
