11–17 May 2026
This week’s Archivitaly Access Watch records confirmed disruptions affecting archival access in Italy between 11 and 17 May 2026. It includes only institutions where an official notice identifies a closure, reduced service, temporary exclusion of holdings, access limitation, or relevant change to consultation conditions. The list is intended as a planning aid for researchers, curators, collectors, scholars, and anyone organising archival work in Italy. As always, users should verify the current status directly with the institution before travelling or relying on a specific consultation date.
At a glance: archive disruptions in Italy
Confirmed archive disruptions this week affect Alba, Bari, Barletta, Bergamo, Bologna / Imola, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Chieti / Lanciano, Cuneo, Frosinone, Gorizia, L’Aquila, Lucca, Macerata, Milan, Perugia / Gubbio, Pescara, Pistoia, Rome, Turin, Trapani and Verbania.
Alba
Institution: Archivio Storico Diocesano di Alba
Disruption: The diocesan archive will be closed on 13 May 2026 and open on 15 May 2026 from 8:30 to 16:30. The same notice also mentions closures on 19 and 20 May, outside this week’s reporting period.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Barletta
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Barletta-Andria-Trani, sede di Barletta
Disruption: Use of the lift at the Barletta site is suspended from 20 April 2026 until completion of urgent technical works. This does not suspend consultation as such, but it materially affects physical access to the site.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Bergamo
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Bergamo
Disruption: The study room is operating on exceptional reduced hours until Thursday 14 May 2026: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30–14:00; Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30–15:30.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Bologna / Imola
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Bologna, Sezione di Imola
Disruption: From 4 May 2026, the Imola study room follows a revised timetable: Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30–13:00; Wednesday, 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00. The institution is closed to the public on Wednesday between 13:00 and 14:00.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Brindisi
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Brindisi
Disruption: The study room has been closed from 23 March 2026 for extraordinary maintenance works connected with the removal of physical, cognitive and sensory barriers. Until the end of the works, only cadastral research is being carried out.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Cagliari
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Cagliari
Disruption: From 20 April 2026, several fonds are temporarily excluded from consultation for logistical reasons. The archive also reports PNRR-related access changes: until June 2026 the entrance is moved from Via Gallura 2 to Via Gallura 4, and study-room consultation continues by appointment because the worksite reduces available space.
Affected holdings: Controllo Generale; Stato civile; Corte d’Assise di Cagliari; Tribunale, Sentenze civili; Pretura di Cagliari, Sentenze penali.
Official link
Catania
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Catania
Disruption: Because of an active worksite and staff-safety requirements for retrievals, deposits 4, 5 and 7 are not currently available. Users are advised to contact the study room in advance to verify whether the fonds they require can be consulted.
Affected holdings: Fonds held in deposits 4, 5 and 7; the notice does not provide a fonds-level list.
Official link
Chieti / Lanciano
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Chieti, Sezione di Lanciano
Disruption: Consultation of the fondo “Archivio distrettuale notarile di Lanciano – Atti dei notai” is suspended until further notice because of transfer operations from the outsourcing site to the Archivio di Stato di Chieti.
Affected holdings: Archivio distrettuale notarile di Lanciano – Atti dei notai.
Official link
Cuneo
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Cuneo
Disruption: Because of restructuring works, only selected fonds remain consultable until the end of the works. The study room is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 to 15:00, by appointment only, with booking required by the previous Friday.
Affected holdings: Only Catasto, Dipartimento della Stura and Distretto Militare are consultable; all other holdings are affected by the temporary restriction.
Official link
Frosinone
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Frosinone
Disruption: Because of transfer operations to the new site, study-room access, consultation and correspondence requests are being fulfilled only for specified fonds. The remaining documentation, already packed for transfer, is not accessible or consultable.
Affected holdings: Consultable holdings are limited to Distretto Militare di Frosinone, 1877–1943, including ruoli, fogli matricolari and liste di leva; Catasto ex UTE terreni, microfilm; Mappe imposte dirette, microfilm; Mappe Catasto Gregoriano, digital images. The remaining documentation is not accessible.
Official link
L’Aquila
Institution: Archivio di Stato dell’Aquila
Disruption: The series of civil-status registers for the Comune dell’Aquila, 1866–1973, belonging to the fondo Tribunale dell’Aquila, is momentarily out of consultation.
Affected holdings: Registri dello Stato Civile del Comune dell’Aquila, 1866–1973, fondo Tribunale dell’Aquila.
Official link
Lucca
Institution: Archivio Storico Diocesano di Lucca
Disruption: The diocesan archive will be closed in the mornings of Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 May 2026 for a training course. It will remain open in the afternoons according to the usual timetable, 14:00–17:00, and will open exceptionally on Wednesday 13 May both morning and afternoon.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Macerata
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Macerata
Disruption: The study room is temporarily closed to the public because of the move to the new Villa Potenza site. During the closure, documentation already available in digital form through the institute’s database remains accessible.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; physical consultation is suspended. Digital documentation remains available for maps of the Catasto Gregoriano, ruoli matricolari, and fascicoli of the Fondo Prefettura, series “cemento armato”.
Official link
Milano
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Milano
Disruption: On Wednesday 13 May 2026, the study room and connected services will close at 13:30 to allow staff to attend compulsory training.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Perugia
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Perugia
Disruption: The Perugia site is accessible through the temporary entrance at Via del Cortone 41/A, which presents architectural barriers. The archive also reports that consultation of the Fani and Guardabassi fonds is suspended until further notice.
Affected holdings: Fani; Guardabassi. General access is also affected by the temporary entrance with architectural barriers.
Official link
Pescara
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Pescara
Disruption: Public opening of the study room is temporarily suspended from 9 March to 30 June 2026 for PNRR works. Correspondence research remains available, subject to compatibility with the works in progress.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Pistoia
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Pistoia
Disruption: The Pistoia site is closed for structural and systems works, with completion expected on 23 July 2026. During the works, public study-room services, correspondence research and reproduction services are suspended.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the closure notice. Earlier access limits also concern Opera di San Jacopo; Comune di Pistoia; Pia Casa di Sapienza; Atti notarili; Opera della Madonna dell’Umiltà; Opera dei Santi Giovanni e Zeno di Pistoia; Diplomatico; and specified library materials.
Official link
Rome
Institution: Archivio Centrale dello Stato
Disruption: The Archivio Centrale dello Stato lists materials temporarily excluded from consultation or subject to special consultation procedures. One current exclusion concerns digitisation until 30 June 2026; additional material is excluded because of INAIL maintenance works.
Affected holdings: Ministero del Turismo e Spettacolo, DG Spettacolo, Sale Cinematografiche (CS), fascicoli CS 9.000–18.000, until 30 June 2026. For INAIL maintenance works, the notice also identifies fonds and bibliographic material connected with deposits affected by the works, including Agenzia Stefani, S.P.D.C.O., Giornali dell’emigrazione and other listed holdings.
Official link
Turin
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Torino
Disruption: The study room of the Sezioni Riunite is closed to the public from 11 to 25 May 2026 for extraordinary PNRR works aimed at removing architectural barriers. Separately, at the Sezione Corte, maintenance works in the Juvarra halls have been extended to the end of July.
Affected holdings: Sezioni Riunite study-room services; at Sezione Corte, holdings in rooms 12–17 and the Biblioteca Antica are not consultable until 29 July.
Official link
Trapani
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Trapani
Disruption: The study room is closed to researchers from 6 to 12 May 2026 because of maintenance works affecting the part of the cloister giving access to the study room.
Affected holdings: General access / reading-room services; no specific fonds exclusion identified in the notice.
Official link
Verbania
Institution: Archivio di Stato di Verbania
Disruption: From 21 April 2026 and for the duration of works on the vertical mobility system, access to the north wing is prohibited. To avoid a total interruption of consultation, the study room has been moved to another room with access from the south staircase, but access is limited to one user per time slot per day.
Affected holdings: Ufficio imposte dirette is consultable only in cases of exceptional urgency; the institute’s library holdings are not consultable.
Official link
Disclaimer
This report provides a clear overview of archive disruptions in Italy for the week ahead and is provided as a planning aid only. It is compiled from official notices, official institutional pages, and other publicly accessible institutional communications available at the time of publication. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, completeness, and timely updating, Archivitaly does not warrant that all information reported here is exhaustive, error-free, or still current at the time of consultation. Access conditions, consultation rules, opening hours, retrieval procedures, and temporary exclusions may change at very short notice, and institutions may amend, replace, remove, or publish notices without warning. Readers are therefore strongly advised to verify the current situation through the official links provided and, where access is essential, to confirm directly with the relevant institute before travelling or making research arrangements. Archivitaly accepts no liability for losses, delays, inconvenience, missed consultations, wasted travel, or other consequences arising from reliance on this post, including where notices are subsequently modified, withdrawn, corrected, or newly issued after publication.
