Historical Archive of the Municipality of Monreale

According to historical sources, the Monreale Municipal Archive, now housed on the premises of the former Santa Caterina hospital, dates back to shortly after 1820. A letter from the mayor of the time refers to a “large ancient archive located in a room halfway up the staircase of the Municipal House”. These papers were then placed on the ground floor of the archbishopric and now form the oldest part of the Diocesan archives of Monreale. Giuseppe Schirò was commissioned by the municipal administration in 1963 to reorganise the part of the municipal archive that could be recovered from the 1939 premises. These papers are all pre-1900, and were later transferred and rearranged without selection. The Municipal Historical Archive of Monreale was dedicated to the memory of Giuseppe Schirò in 2012. For further historical and technical information and online consultation of the documentary holdings of the Historical Archive.