Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio

Emily as Dave didn't quite know what we were walking into with this landmark. A library and a courtyard said to once be one of the most important buildings of Bologna. It was also the main building of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world.

Inside the library, the walls and ceilings are lined with small family crests of students who attended the University (as well as other art). Also on display were old books from the 15th and 16th century. Trying to understand what we were looking at was a little overwhelming, because there was SO MUCH history on the walls and ceiling. Many of the plaques were in Latin or Italian.

From wikipedia:
The library was founded in 1801 at the convent of San Domenico to collect the book heritage of the religious orders suppressed by Napoleon.
[...]
The library has about 850,000 volumes and pamphlets, about 2,500 incunabula , about 15,000 sixteenth -century books and about 120,000 old books (up to 1830). The periodicals section includes 7,500 publications, of which over 1,300 are in progress.Read more