The building where the historical archive of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo is located occupies part of the monastery of the church of the SS. Cosma and Damiano. In 1870, with the unification of Italy, some spaces in the convent were expropriated and assigned to the Ministry of Education.

In 1913 the nascent Photographic Laboratory of the Technical Office of the monuments of Rome were installed in these spaces. The Photographic Laboratory, since 1923 called the Gabinetto Nazionale Fotografico for its documentation of the cultural heritage throughout the country, continued its work at the headquarters in Via Miranda until 1990, when it was moved to premises in San Michele. The building was then assigned to the former Archaeological Superintendency of Rome. In 2016 the Archive of the Palatine-Roman Forum was established, now an archive of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo established in 2018.

Accessions and archiving

As of January 10, 2018, 2651 files were archived in 422 folders, for an extent of approximately 70 linear metres.

Contents of documents

The archived material is closely related to the protection and valorisation work carried out on behalf of the institution (under the various names S.A.R., S.S.B.A.R., S.S.COL.) between the late 1970s and the present. A large part of the archival material (about 75%) refers to the contexts and monumental complexes currently belonging to the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, while 25% concerns complexes and areas now belonging to the M.N.R. and the S.S.A.B.A.P.

Comments on the recording and management of data

To facilitate consultation, the filing of the dossiers was carried out by adopting a computerised model of data archiving and management already in use in the archive of Palazzo Altemps.

Information

The archives, in Via Miranda 5, is open for consultation on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Applications to consult them may be sent to pa-colosseo.beniarchivistici@cultura.gov.it