Palazzo Sormani, now seat of the Central Municipal Library, dates back to the first half of the seventeenth century. It was built by the will of the Cardinal Cesare Monti and with the intervention of Francesco Maria Richini.
Today the "Sormani"; is the library with the widest range of books, periodicals and multimedia of the Milan Library System and one of the largest public libraries in the city.
“Sormani” Library is a place of culture for everyone, that gives access to fundamental documents and publications in all branches of knowledge, with a particularly rich heritage in the humanities, legal sciences and arts. According to the definition of its first Director, Giovanni Bellini, it is “the home of the Milanese scholars”.