Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana

The basics

The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is part of the Basilica of San Lorenzo complex, but it requires a separate ticket. Pay the entrance fee on-site, then enjoy a self-guided tour of Michelangelo’s light-filled Reading Room and unusual Vestibule, or the dramatic staircase that leads to the library. If you’d prefer to experience the site with a guide, walking tours focused on Florence’s Medici history often include the library as an essential stop.

Things to know before you go

• The majority of the library’s books and manuscripts are reserved for academic use and stored in vaults downstairs, so expect to see just a few works selected for display.
• Since you’ll enter the library through the Basilica of San Lorenzo, be sure to follow the church’s dress code of covered knees and shoulders.
• The library may not be wheelchair-accessible due to the staircase that leads to the Reading Room.

How to get there

The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo complex, which is within a half-hour walk of most Florence attractions. Taxis can drop you off right outside the basilica, while the closest bus stop is Piazza di San Lorenzo. To get to the library, head to the basilica and find the entrance to the cloister on the left side of the church. From the cloister, take the stairs up to the library.

When to get there

The library, which has different hours than the rest of the Basilica of San Lorenzo complex, is open on weekdays from 10am–1pm. Be sure to arrive at least 30 minutes before it closes so you’re still allowed to enter, and note that the site is closed on Italian holidays and during the second and third weeks of August.

What to look out for in the library

While the Michelangelo-designed Reading Room may at first look like a fancy hallway—and a luminous one at that—there’s more to it than its hand-carved ceiling and rich terracotta floor. Lining the windows are rows of wooden benches and lecterns called plutei, where 16th-century thinkers once sat while reading the likes of Virgil, Horace, and Dante. Looking at the plutei, you can still read the exterior panels listing the books they once stored, which were chained to the lecterns to prevent theft or removal.