Archives abroad: Vatican Secret Archives’ papers go on show for the first time

On March 1st 2012 Rome’s Capitoline Museums opened a unique exhibit, which marks the 400th anniversary of the official foundation of papal legendary archives. Original priceless documents displayed to the general public cover a long period from 12th to 20th cc., and as organizers believe it serves to show the openness of the Catholic Church to the society and absence of any secrets in its history.

Visitors of the exhibition “will have a chance of a lifetime to study the history upon its authentic sources”, Vatican’s representatives announced. Medieval artifacts include Giordano Bruno’s recantation and Galileo Galilei’s signature on his sentence, the last letter of the beheaded Queen of Scotland Maria Stuart and a short note from imprisoned Queen of France Marie Antoinette.

“Here you can discover everything — from old Europe to Asia, from the discovery of America to World War II, not a single country has escaped our attention”, Sergio Pagano, the custodian of the secret archives, stressed.