These rooms were under the supervision of the Jesuits until the suppression of the religious order in 1773. Here the large public library began to take shape and was called after the long-lived Empress. The building also housed the Museo dell’Antichità, with its prestigious collections belonging to the Gonzaga family, before it was transferred in the halls of Palazzo Ducale. The connection to the nearby Accademia, where today the Bibiena Theatre still stands, is very strong. Nearby is also the State Archives building, erected in 1883. When the university was moved to Pavia by the Austrians, this building continued to embody the desire to create a cultural centre, a real fortress where the Library and the Classical Lyceum would continue to live on and flourish until this day. Here we can take a glimpse of the central part of the Library, the so called Prima Sala Teresiana.
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